This week offers an excellent opportunity to track down Saturn. The giant planet, situated about 10 times further from the sun than the Earth, reached opposition on 4 October. In this configuration, Earth is passing almost directly between the planet and the sun.
This makes opposition an excellent time to see a planet: the distant world rises as the sun sets, remains visible throughout the night and sets around sunrise. It is also at about its closest point to Earth for the year.
