July 12, 2025
Saturn enters retrograde motion tonight. This means the planet will stop its usual eastward motion through the sky and begin moving westward instead. This motion is due to the Earth catching up to Saturn in its orbit, causing the change in perspective.
Typically, all the outer planets of the solar system will undergo retrograde motion a few months before they reach opposition. Opposition is when the planet is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun and usually begins rising around sunset. Saturn reaches opposition on September 21st, 2025.
The image above is one of the more famous images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it was approaching the ringed planet for its science mission in 2004.
Image courtesy of NASA.
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