Saturn

[coln18]

Just watching sky at night and they say Saturn is in opposition to the sun tonight (which means its at its biggest for us to see)

Thought id pass that one on for any budding astronomers.....

 

[Harvestman]

Ooh, interesting, I'll have a look for that if there isn't too much cloud tonight. Thanks

 

[ex member coconino]

It's in Virgo, probably not worth looking for until nearer midnight unless you have very dark sky to the southeast and a low horizon (i.e. few trees of buildings). To find it, look for Spica, very bright in the SE (SSE, around midnight) and Saturn is about two finger-widths (from memory) above it, the same brightness (mag 1.0).

If you know Leo, Saturn is a short way along the line from Spica to Regulus, the front paw of Leo. If you know Bootes, the kite-shaped constellation near Hercules, the tail of the kite (Arcturus) points directly at Saturn.

I had a look on Saturday night with dark sky and through hand-held 10x50s I could almost convince myself I could see the rings.