Next week, Saturn enters its final throes of telescope visibility. On the bright side, when it returns to the evening sky in September/Oct0ber, the rings will once again show off multiple layers instead of the straight line we’ve seen the past 18 months. But its exit from the evening sky always leaves us in heartache.
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When are planets in the sky? View my graphic.
As an author, every time I finish writing a book, I get…emotional. I’m not above crying when I type those final words after spending months writing the first draft of a book, pouring hundreds of thousands of words out of my brain over the course of about 100 writing sessions for the first draft, and another 3-4,000 hours of editing and revising to final publication.
That hits hard.
The same thing happens when Saturn starts fading from the sky. When you’ve spent six straight months showing thousands of people the ringed planet and experienced their gasps of wonder, their wows, and sometimes, their own chills and tears, it’s hard to watch that faint yellow dot drift deeper into the west and, soon after, cross behind the Sun.
Despite being the dimmest of all the visible planets, Saturn is without a doubt the planet people connect to the most. It’s the oddity. The one that looks sharp as a textbook picture. The one that elicits a response from sidewalk stargazers comparable only to people seeing the Moon for the first time.
Below Audio Track: people reacting to seeing Saturn in the telescope
No matter who you are, you tend to have some emotional response to seeing Saturn for the first time. With the exception of younger kids, almost no one needs me to tell them what planet they’re seeing. No matter your language, your country, your culture, Saturn is recognized by virtually all stargazers. Outside the Moon, it is the great uniter of sidewalk astronomy.
Jupiter is cool to look at, but most people need to be told what they’re seeing. What are those stripes? What are those dots? Why is it white and pink/brown?
Mars could be mistaken for any of the red stars, and is only visible close-up for a few weeks every two years–and the next 10+ years it will be near its “farthest closest distance,” aka not a great wow-factor at sidewalk telescoping.
Venus looks like any other bright star until it starts moving through its phases–a process that lasts less than two months in the evening sky. Even then, understanding why Venus changes shape is confounding to a lot of people.
Mercury we rarely see through regular sidewalk astronomy.
Uranus and Neptune are pinpricks, and even people who excitedly ask to see them are often left with a less-than-enthusiastic, “Oh.”
But Saturn…Saturn needs no introduction, and all the information I provide at the telescope only adds to the wonder of the sight through the eyeglass.
So come experience Saturn with me during its final few weeks. We’re currently working with a 30 minute window that shifts forward by 4 minutes every day. I expect Saturn viewing from downtown St. Pete will be over by the time the Moon returns to view on February 22nd.
TOUR SCHEDULE UPDATE: I will now stay in St. Pete until Saturday, February 28th. Unless it’s cloudy, that will be the final night of sidewalk astronomy with me in St. Pete for all of 2026. Then I’m driving to Alamogordo, New Mexico to catch a Lunar Eclipse in the wee morning hours of March 3rd. This eclipse will be partially visible in the eastern US.
Will I be near your town in 2026? Check my tour dates or follow my Instagram for daily updates. And be sure to Hire Me for a private tour of the night sky wherever you are. Many 2026 dates in each city are already taken, so please let me know the exact date you would like to schedule when contacting me.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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