Now nearing a close conjunction, Saturn and Neptune sit just to the right of the crescent Moon in the morning sky.
Saturn and Neptune float near the Moon all morning, visible until shortly before sunrise. Note that Saturn is visible to the naked eye, but Neptune will require binoculars or a telescope to view. Credit: Stellarium
Saturn and Neptune rise together just before 1:30 A.M. local daylight time, with the waning Moon nearby. You can catch them in the few hours before local sunrise — the pair of planets is 23° high in the east two hours before dawn, with the Moon close by to their left. The crescent Moon is now just over 40 percent lit.
First-magnitude Saturn is visible to the naked eye, but 8th-magnitude Neptune is not. You’ll need binoculars or a telescope to find the distant ice giant, located 1.1° north of the ringed planet. In a little over a week, the two planets will undergo an official conjunction.
Saturn’s disk spans a hefty 17”, with its rings stretching nearly 40” from end to end. The planet’s brightest moon, Titan, is now 2.5’ west of the planet. This moon will reach its greatest western elongation tomorrow.
North of Saturn, Neptune will be a bit harder to discern, looking like a small, “flat” blue-gray star amid the pinprick white of background stars. At its vast distance of 2.87 billion miles (4.48 billion kilometers), Neptune’s disk now appears just 2” wide.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:32 P.M.
Moonrise: 1:15 A.M.
Moonset: 2:07 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (40%)
*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.
