‘Good for the soul’: public urged to look up with Saturn on show

Moons pass in front of Saturn in an image taken by the Hubble space telescope in 2009. Photograph: Nasa/Rex/Shutterstock

It has baffled minds as great as Galileo’s, inspired composers and fuelled sci-fi fantasies, but while Saturn will be on show all September, is anyone watching?

The ringed gas giant will be highly visible in the night sky all month, reaching its brightest on the 21st when Earth will sit directly between Saturn and the sun, a configuration known as opposition.