Astroblog: The Opposition of Saturn tonight, 4 October 2026 and some of my images of Saturn

Sunday, October 04, 2026

The Opposition of Saturn tonight, 4 October 2026 and some of my images of Saturn

Eastern horizon on the evening of Sunday, October 4 as seen from Adelaide at 20:47 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Saturn is the brightest object above the eastern horizon. Saturn is at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 4th and is visible the entire night. But is best for telescopic observation from around midnight on, and its rings are widening.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Tonight, 4 October, is the opposition of Saturn, where it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. So of course it is completely clouded out here. Despite this, have a chart and some images I took earlier this year and in 2025 when the rings were edge on (and even earlier in 2021 with my previous webcam setup) as some encouragement to view Saturn when the skies let you.


Saturn with rings opening 01-09-26, 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.	Saturn_20-08-21, 8" Newtonian, ToYou Cam astro modded, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame

Saturn with rings edge on 05-11-25, Moons Enceladus and Rhea just visible. 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.	Saturn with rings almost edge on 19-8-25 8" Newtonian, ZWO ASI 224MC, 2x Barlow 640x40 frame.