SkyEye

The upper chart shows the path of Saturn across the background stars over the course of the year. Stars to magnitude +8.5 are shown. The white circles represent the planet on the first day of the month and are scaled according to apparent magnitude. The faint paths before the first circle and after the last circle represent the planet's positions in December of last year and January of next. In general, the planet moves from right to left except when it's in retrograde and proceding in the opposite direction.

The lower chart shows how the appearance of Saturn changes over the year. Below each image is listed the date, the apparent magnitude, the apparent diameter of the disk (in arc-seconds), the geocentric distance (in au) and the opening angle of the rings. Note that the tilt of Saturn's rings varies subtly throughout the year.

The ringed planet continues to loop through Aquarius, having entered the constellation last February. The rings continue to close on their way to a ring plane crossing next year, with a minimum ring tilt of just under 2° in late June. Saturn is visible in the evening at the outset of 2024 but begins to disappear in the twilight in February ahead of conjunction at the end of the month. It reappears in the sky ahead of the Sun, finally rising before midnight in May (southern hemisphere) or in June (northern temperate latitudes). Opposition takes place in September with Saturn primarily an evening sky object afterwards. A series of lunar occultations takes place this year, beginning in March and continuing through the end of the year.

All times and dates are in UT. Positions are geocentric apparent places, referred to the true equator and equinox of date.