Saturn
Saturn Position
Saturn is currently in the constellation of Capricornus. The current Right Ascension is 20h 11m 56s and the Declination is -20° 03’ 11”.
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 1,526,360,508 kilometers, equivalent to 10.203090 Astronomical Units. Light takes 1 hours, 24 minutes and 51.3906 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 8.03140902 Astronomical Units, or 1,201,481,691 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 1.42.
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 Mar 31 | 20h 10m 09s | -20° 08’ 06” | 1.43 | 15.6” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 20h 10m 26s | -20° 07’ 22” | 1.43 | 15.6” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 20h 10m 41s | -20° 06’ 39” | 1.43 | 15.6” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 20h 10m 55s | -20° 05’ 57” | 1.42 | 15.6” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 20h 11m 11s | -20° 05’ 17” | 1.42 | 15.7” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 20h 11m 25s | -20° 04’ 37” | 1.42 | 15.7” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 20h 11m 39s | -20° 04’ 00” | 1.42 | 15.7” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 20h 11m 53s | -20° 03’ 23” | 1.42 | 15.7” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 20h 12m 06s | -20° 02’ 45” | 1.41 | 15.8” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 20h 12m 19s | -20° 02’ 11” | 1.41 | 15.8” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 20h 12m 30s | -20° 01’ 36” | 1.41 | 15.8” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 11 | 20h 12m 43s | -20° 01’ 04” | 1.40 | 15.8” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 12 | 20h 12m 55s | -20° 00’ 32” | 1.40 | 15.9” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 13 | 20h 13m 06s | -20° 00’ 02” | 1.40 | 15.9” | Capricornus |