SCIENCE FILE: An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment. : Star Tours

In an unusual event, Saturn’s rings were edge-on to Earth last week and are virtually invisible even in large telescopes. Saturn rises in the east at 9:30 p.m. The planet, which is visible to the naked eye, gains altitude slowly, and at 11 p.m. is still less than 20 degrees above the horizon below and to the right of Pegasus. We will not see Saturn ringless again until October, 2038.

Source: John Mosley, Griffith Observatory