Amateur astronomers must hurry to observe Saturn from every angle before the rings temporarily disappear in 18 months due to the planet’s tilt as it revolves around the sun.
This is explained by the scientific medium IFL Science with the report that the next equinox of Saturn will cause this phenomenon of the disappearance of its rings. According to USA Today, the equinox will occur on May 6, 2025.
Although the planet’s rings are very large, spanning a distance of 70,000 to 140,000 kilometers, which is 30 times the Earth’s surface area, they are also extremely thin.
In most cases, their thickness is less than 100 meters, which is almost thinner than a sheet of paper relative to the size of the Earth.
Saturn’s tilt will therefore give the illusion that the rings have disappeared when observed from our planet, since the illumination of the rings by the Sun will be different.
“For almost half of Saturn’s orbit, the sun shines on the south side of the rings. In the other half it appears on the north side,” a NASA transcript said.
Remember that it takes the gas giant about 30 Earth years to complete one complete rotation around the Sun. The equinox takes place in the middle.
We must therefore not lose hope of being able to observe these famous rings, since they should really be highlighted in 2032, when Saturn’s maximum inclination will be reached.