Saturn will glow brightly in the sky next week. Here’s how to see it
By Megan Marples and Ashley Strickland, CNN
See Saturn shine brightly for this once-a-year nighttime spectacle.
On August 1 and 2, Saturn will be at opposition, meaning the Earth will be located between the ringed planet and the sun. This is when the outer planet will be at its most luminous, making for a brilliant night sky view.
Saturn’s opposition is at 2 a.m. ET on August 2, or 11 p.m. PT for those on the West Coast, according to EarthSky.
Once Venus sinks below the horizon after the sun sets, Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky, EarthSky said. To find Saturn, look just west of Jupiter.
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Saturn’s famous rings, you’ll need to whip out a telescope, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
“Sunday night into Monday morning much of the Midwest and portions of western California will see mostly clear skies,” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said. “A swath of cloudy skies will exist across the Northwest into the Rockies, across many southern states and into the Northeast.”
Don’t worry if your town has cloudy weather at the beginning of August because Saturn will remain bright in the sky for the rest of the month, EarthSky said.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun, and it would take nine Earths to span the diameter of the gaseous planet, according to NASA — and that’s not including the rings.
Full moons
Typical of a normal year, 2021 has 12 full moons. (There were 13 full moons last year, two of which were in October.)
Here are all of the full moons remaining this year and their names, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac:
August 22 — sturgeon moon
September 20 — harvest moon
October 20 — hunter’s moon
November 19 — beaver moon
December 18 — cold moon
Be sure to check for the other names of these moons as well, attributed to their respective Native American tribes.
Meteor Showers
The Perseid meteor shower, the most popular of the year, will peak between August 11 and 12 in the Northern Hemisphere, when the moon is only 13% full.
Here is the meteor shower schedule for the rest of the year, according to EarthSky’s meteor shower outlook.
• October 8: Draconids
• October 21: Orionids
• November 4 to 5: South Taurids
• November 11 to 12: North Taurids
• November 17: Leonids
• December 13 to 14: Geminids
• December 22: Ursids
Solar and lunar eclipses
This year, there will be one more eclipse of the sun and another eclipse of the moon, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
November 19 will see a partial eclipse of the moon, and skywatchers in North America and Hawaii can view it between 1 a.m. ET and 7:06 a.m. ET.
And the year will end with a total eclipse of the sun on December 4. It won’t be visible in North America, but those in the Falkland Islands, the southern tip of Africa, Antarctica and southeastern Australia will be able to spot it.
Visible planets
Skywatchers will have multiple opportunities to spot the planets in our sky during certain mornings and evenings throughout 2021, according to the Farmer’s Almanac planetary guide.
It’s possible to see most of these with the naked eye, with the exception of distant Neptune, but binoculars or a telescope will provide the best view.
Mercury will look like a bright star in the morning sky from October 18 to November 1. It will shine in the night sky from August 31 to September 21, and November 29 to December 31.
Venus, our closest neighbor in the solar system, will appear in the western sky at dusk in the evenings through December 31. It’s the second-brightest object in our sky, after the moon.
Mars makes its reddish appearance in the morning sky between November 24 and December 31, and it will be visible in the evening sky through August 22.
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is the third-brightest object in our sky. It will be on display in the morning sky through August 19. Look for it in the evenings August 20 to December 31 — but it will be at its brightest from August 8 to September 2.
Saturn’s rings are only visible through a telescope, but the planet itself can still be seen with the naked eye in the mornings through August 1 and in the evenings from August 2 to December 31. It will be at its brightest during the first four days of August.
Binoculars or a telescope will help you spot the greenish glow of Uranus in the mornings through November 3 and in the evenings from November 4 to December 31. It will be at its brightest between August 28 and December 31.
And our most distant neighbor in the solar system, Neptune, will be visible through a telescope in the mornings through September 13 and during the evenings September 14 to December 31. It will be at its brightest between July 19 and November 8.
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