Saturn
Saturn Position
Saturn is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension is 19h 43m 41s and the Declination is -21° 16’ 37”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Saturn is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Saturn is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Saturn?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Saturn in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Saturn Distance
The distance of Saturn from Earth is currently 1,645,113,401 kilometers, equivalent to 10.996904 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 31 minutes and 27.5076 seconds to travel from Saturn and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Saturn from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Saturn from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Saturn to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Saturn to Earth happens on Thu Dec 27 2091 at a distance of 8.03140900 Astronomical Units, or 1,201,481,688 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Saturn brightness
The current visual magnitude of Saturn is 1.38.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Saturn, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Saturn rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Saturn rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Saturn touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Saturn Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Saturn. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 116464 km | 9.1402 |
| Mass | 568.319 x 1024 kg | 95.1609 |
| Density | 0.6871 gr/cm3 | 0.1246 |
| Escape Velocity | 36.09 km/s | 3.2252 |
| Sideral Rotation | 10.6562 hours | 0.4452 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -8.88 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.47 |
Saturn 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Saturn computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Saturn in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Jan 18 | 19h 39m 51s | -21° 25’ 23” | 1.35 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 19 | 19h 40m 20s | -21° 24’ 15” | 1.36 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 20 | 19h 40m 50s | -21° 23’ 08” | 1.36 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 21 | 19h 41m 21s | -21° 22’ 00” | 1.36 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 22 | 19h 41m 51s | -21° 20’ 52” | 1.37 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 23 | 19h 42m 20s | -21° 19’ 42” | 1.37 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 24 | 19h 42m 51s | -21° 18’ 34” | 1.37 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 25 | 19h 43m 19s | -21° 17’ 26” | 1.38 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 26 | 19h 43m 50s | -21° 16’ 17” | 1.38 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 27 | 19h 44m 20s | -21° 15’ 07” | 1.38 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 28 | 19h 44m 49s | -21° 13’ 58” | 1.39 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 29 | 19h 45m 19s | -21° 12’ 48” | 1.39 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 30 | 19h 45m 48s | -21° 11’ 39” | 1.39 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Jan 31 | 19h 46m 18s | -21° 10’ 28” | 1.40 | 14.6” | Sagittarius |