23 March – Saturn’s rings “disappear”

Saturn gained the nickname “the jewel of the Solar System” thanks to its magnificent system of rings. On 23 March, however, the iconic rings are set to disappear. This is due to the Earth’s orbit crossing the plane of the rings, a rare event that occurs about once every 15 years. In other words, the flat disk of the rings will be edge-on from our perspective. 

Galileo was the first to notice the rings disappear from view during a plane crossing in 1612. At the time, it was proposed that the rings were in fact moons of Saturn, leading Galileo to wonder whether “Saturn swallowed his children”. 

Subsequently, plane crossings have been very useful to astronomers in revealing Saturn’s secrets. Things that would otherwise be obscured can be spotted when the rings are edge-on – several of Saturn’s moons have been discovered this way!  

On 23 March Saturn will be very close to the Sun in the sky, meaning we sadly won’t be able to see the planet during the plane crossing. Despite this, it’s pretty cool to know that our planet will be perfectly aligned with the iconic rings of Saturn.