Saturn still stands out in the early-morning sky as a bright, 1st-magnitude point of light in southwestern Pisces. Two hours before sunrise, the ringed planet is roughly 50° high in the south and offers an easy stepping-stone to Neptune, which lies 1° north of Saturn — close enough to catch both worlds in a single field of view through your telescope. Neptune is invisible to the naked eye but will appear under magnification, shining at magnitude 7.7 and showing off a tiny, bluish-gray, 2”-wide disk.
Saturn is far more impressive, not only much brighter but also appearing much larger, with a disk 18” across and rings that stretch 42” from end to end. Its brightest moon, mid-8th-magnitude Titan, lies some 2.8’ east of the planet. Titan will reach its greatest eastern elongation tomorrow morning just after 7:30 A.M. EDT, when it will stand a bit more than 3’ due east of Saturn.
This morning several other fainter moons are visible as well, clustered much closer to the planet. Tenth-magnitude Tethys, Rhea, and Dione are all visible around 5 A.M. EDT; Rhea is about 1.3’ east of Saturn, while Tethys is just 30” west of the planet and Dione another 30” west of Tethys.
Sunrise: 5:56 A.M.
Sunset: 8:16 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:59 A.M.
Moonset: 10:44 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (24%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.
For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.
