Picture them while you can – Makeleio.gr

Astrophotographers are scrambling to photograph Saturn’s rings as quickly as possible, as they are expected to fade after the summer.

Although Saturn’s rings are relatively small on a cosmic scale, there are signs in the solar system that they are fading. From now on and throughout August, the rings are slanted down at an angle of 9 degrees for contrast, which makes them very clean and distinct. However, next year the tilt will move to 3.7 degrees. By 2025, it will almost completely disappear and start to reappear from 2032.

“We can assume that the relatively small rings around other giant gas and icy planets in our solar system are the remnants of once massive rings, such as Saturn. Perhaps in the near future, Saturn’s rings, after they have weakened, will look more like the thin rings of Uranus,” says Paul Estrada, a researcher at NASA Ames Center.

Fortunately, before that happens, astrophotographers will have their best chance of capturing the rings in August. On August 27th, Saturn will be in opposition (that is, directly opposite the Sun and Earth between them), and therefore in maximum visibility and brightness.