When is the Saturn opposition of 2026?

Saturn reaches opposition on October 4, 2026 (UTC). Around opposition it is generally well placed for much of the night; check local rise and set times.

How bright will Saturn be?

Around opposition Saturn peaks at magnitude 0.2, with its disc 19.7 arcseconds across. That is its biggest and brightest of the apparition.

How far away is Saturn at opposition?

At closest approach (October 5, 2026) Saturn is 8.434 AU from Earth, about 1262 million km.

What is an opposition?

An outer planet is opposite the Sun in our sky, with Earth on the inside of its orbit. Opposition, closest approach and peak brightness need not occur at the same instant.

Space Time

Saturn at opposition, 2026

On October 4, 2026 (UTC), Saturn reaches opposition at approximately magnitude 0.2. It rises at sunset, stands highest around midnight, and sets at dawn. The rings and Titan show in any small telescope.

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0.2peak magnitude

8.43 AUclosest approach (1262M km)

19.7″disc at its biggest

Cetconstellation

▶ See Saturn at opposition in 3D Free · real ephemerides · no install

What's special about this one

Saturn reaches opposition, opposite the Sun in our sky and near its closest approach of the year. This is prime ring season too: the rings are emerging from their 2025 edge-on alignment and tilt open a little more each month. For a few nights around opposition they also brighten noticeably (the Seeliger effect) as sunlight reflects straight back at Earth.

Opposition, closest approach and peak brightness are separate events. The closest and brightest values below are approximate extrema sampled once per day. Dates are in UTC; your local date may differ. Local altitude, weather, light pollution and equipment determine the view.

Find your local observing window · Inspect Saturn’s data and appearance evidence

Brightness across the apparition

Visual magnitude (lower = brighter), computed daily. The gold dot marks the peak.

Apparent size

Equatorial disc diameter in arcseconds. Telescope views are best in the weeks around the peak.

Month by month

Month	Magnitude	Disc	Distance	Constellation
Jun 2026	0.7	16.8″	9.91 AU	Psc
Jul 2026	0.7	17.5″	9.48 AU	Psc
Aug 2026	0.5	18.5″	8.98 AU	Psc
Sep 2026	0.3	19.3″	8.59 AU	Psc
Oct 2026	0.2	19.7″	8.44 AU	Cet
Nov 2026	0.4	19.4″	8.55 AU	Cet
Dec 2026	0.6	18.7″	8.91 AU	Cet
Jan 2027	0.7	17.7″	9.40 AU	Cet
Feb 2027	0.8	16.8″	9.89 AU	Cet

Jupiter 2027 → Mars 2027 → All oppositions

Watch it happen

Space Time is a free 3D universe explorer in your browser. Jump to opposition night and watch Saturn at its real position and brightness, or generate the full ephemeris table yourself and export it as CSV. Open the simulation. To visit the planet itself, read Saturn’s rings and moons in 3D.

Method and sources

The date uses the app’s shared Astronomy Engine opposition search, not the largest value in a daily elongation table. Brightness, distance and size use the same ephemeris engine; distance and size are for a reference observer, so small topocentric differences are possible. Calendar dates were cross-checked against In-The-Sky’s independent planetary ephemerides on September 23, 2026. These are predictions, not live telescope measurements.