Saturn's rings to 'vanish' this weekend: What to know
(NEXSTAR) — The sky has already graced us with a total lunar eclipse and a rare planetary alignment, but we'll soon have the chance to witness another peculiar celestial event: the disappearance of Saturn's iconic rings.
The rings, believed to be made up of rocky and icy chunks that could be as large as a house, help separate Saturn from other planets in our solar system. They're also about to perform a vanishing trick — sort of.
Like Earth, Saturn’s axis is tilted, NASA explains. Saturn is transitioning, causing its tilt to shift. This will alter our view of the planet as Earth crosses its ring plane. This is where the disappearance comes in.
“The rings engage in sort of a planetary ‘sleight of hand,’ where, when viewed from the edge, the rings seem to disappear (think of a sheet of paper – it looks large when viewed from above, but as you tilt it, it gets thinner and thinner),” explained Dr. Amy Simon, Senior Scientist for Planetary Atmospheres Research in the Solar System Exploration Division at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Because we're so far from Saturn, and its rings are relatively thin, we can lose sight of them by shifting just a few degrees above or below them, Simon previously told Nexstar. The size and quality of the telescope you use and “the calmness of Earth’s atmosphere,” can also impact our ability to see Saturn’s rings.
Starting on Sunday, Saturn's rings will seem to disappear for a few days. For the next several months, Simon said the rings will "remain very thin" to our eyes.
“Unfortunately, Saturn will be very close to the Sun in the sky in March, so it will be difficult to catch this from small telescopes,” she said. “However, because the Earth’s orbit is short, a similar geometry will occur in November, when Saturn is easier to view, but it won’t be quite as edge-on as in March, so the rings may be barely visible.”
It will be about 13 to 15 years before we will get to see a ringless Saturn, according to Simon. NASA previously predicted that our crossing of Saturn’s ring-plane will be even better in 2038-39 when Earth undergoes a triple passage and gives us three chances to see a seemingly ringless Saturn: October 15, 2038; April 1, 2039; and July 9, 2039.