How to View Saturn

Understand Saturn's origins. Saturn was named after the Roman god of the same name. Its symbol comes from the Roman god's sickle. Although the rings weren't seen until 1610, the planet Saturn has been known since ancient times. In 1610, Galileo, an Italian scientist, was the first person to see the rings of Saturn.

Know the moons of Saturn. Titan is the largest moon that orbits the planet. It is larger than the planet Mercury. There have been at least 56 other moons that have been seen orbiting Saturn.

See how Saturn is shaped. Although all the planets including Saturn look completely spherical, Saturn is an oblate spheroid. This means that it's a circle that's flattened at the north and south poles and bulging out at the equator. Scientists attribute this to the fluidity of the planet and the high speed of its rotation.

Know the composition of Saturn. Saturn is one of the gas giant or Jovian planets. Saturn's center is estimated to be between 9 and 20 times the size of the earth and is very hot. With a liquid rocky metal core, it has a composition a lot like Jupiter's, but with various ices present. The interior of the planet is hota??even with the presence of the ices and it radiates more energy out into space than it takes in from the sun. Saturn has traces of water, methane, ammonia and rock.

Know what Saturn's rings are like. They seem to be made of primarily water ice, but scientists believe that they probably include small iced rock debris--particles that are coated with ice. It is believed that they are in place because of Saturn's magnetic field but that isn't yet very well understood. The rings are very, very thin.

View Saturn. With a naked eye, Saturn looks like a yellow star much brighter than the others. Saturn and its rings are easily seen with a fairly modest telescope, even one with an aperture as small as 2a??. Binoculars should have about 20X magnification for Saturn's rings to be clearly seen. The outer rings can be seen but the smallest ring next to the planet may not be seen as it is very faint and often difficult to make out. Of course, the larger the telescope, the greater the detail seen will be.

Remember Saturn as the second largest planet, the eighth from the sun in the solar system. It is composed of gases and has a liquid metallic core that generates great heat but its rings are composed of ice and ice covered rock debris. It's a good planet to view with a telescope or binoculars on a clear night. Look for a night when the stars seem very stilla??when they aren't twinkling to take a look.