Saturn Reaches Opposition on April 28

By Nancy Atkinson - April 28, 2013 at 3:06 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Saturn is one of the most striking objects to see through a telescope, and it is now at its brightest in the night sky as it reaches opposition from the Sun. This is when Earth stands mostly perfectly in line between Saturn and the Sun. It is when Saturn is brightest (at magnitude +0.3), closely approximating famous "first magnitude" stars like Betelgeuse. Also, it is when Saturn is out all night long.

Slooh Space Camera will broadcast a free, real-time feed of Saturn at opposition, with the giant planet's rings impressively angled -- its best in six years. Slooh's coverage will begin on Sunday, April 28th, starting at 6:30 p.m. PDT / 9:30 p.m. EDT / 01:30 UTC (April 29th), with observatory feeds from their world-class observatory site in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. Viewers can watch live on their PC/Mac at

Slooh.com,

or by downloading the free Slooh iPad app in the

iTunes

store and touching the broadcast icon.