Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, August 22nd. Today the Sun will be up for 13 hours and 41 minutes, setting at 8:36, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:55. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 10:07 this evening.

Saturn graces our evening skies now, but it’s not yet in the evening planet. It will rise tonight at 9:16 PM. However, will set after sunrise, thus still being a morning planet. It will become an evening planet on September 7th, when it reaches opposition from the Sun. It will rise approximately the same time the Sun sets and thereafter will rise before sunset. Saturn’s rings are nearly edge on to us now. Currently, about 2 1/4° from being edge on. They will open up slightly over the next few months to five degrees on November 11th before closing up and becoming edge-on on March 23rd of next year. On that day the rings will disappear for us. However, their presence will only be seen by the thin shadow they cast on the planet.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

The image shows Saturn and its rings on five dates. The first is today, August 22nd 2024. On this date the rings are a little over three degrees from being edge on to us. They will actually open up a bit for nearly three months. On November 11th they will open up to nearly 6°. On March 23rd next year they will be exactly edge on to us and be invisible. The only sign of their presence will be a very thin shadow the rings cast on the planet. The bad part of this is that early next year Saturn will be too close to the Sun to be easily seen from Earth. That includes the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. It will appear only 10 degrees west of the Sun on that date. It will increase over the next 44 days to 48 degrees on May 6th, when the rings will be edge on to the Sun. In that period the Earth will be looking at the unlit side of the rings. So the rings will be very dim. Only the light filtering through the rings will be seen, and the B ring which is the brightest normally will be just about completely dark due to the density of ring particles in it. After that the rings will open up for the next 7 1/2 years.