The upper chart shows the path of Saturn across the background stars over the course of the year. Stars to magnitude +8.5 are shown. The white circles represent the planet on the first day of the month and are scaled according to apparent magnitude. The faint paths before the first circle and after the last circle represent the planet's positions in December of last year and January of next. In general, the planet moves from right to left except when it's in retrograde and proceding in the opposite direction.
The lower chart shows how the appearance of Saturn changes over the year. Below each image is listed the date, the apparent magnitude, the apparent diameter of the disk (in arc-seconds), the geocentric distance (in au) and the opening angle of the rings. Note that the tilt of Saturn's rings varies subtly throughout the year.
Saturn is not visible in January, undergoing conjunction on 13 January and actually passing behind the disk of the Sun as seen from Earth. It reappears in the morning sky the following month. Mars joins it in Sagittarius during the month of March. Saturn is at its brightest around opposition in July and is an evening sky object for the last half of the year. Jupiter and Saturn undergo a 'Great Conjunction' in December, the first time since May 2000. Both planets will be low in the west at this time as they approach conjunction with the Sun early next year.
| 01 January | maximum declination south |
| maximum ring opening: 23.6° | |
| 12 January | planetary conjunction: 2.0° north of Mercury |
| 13 January | conjunction: anti-transit |
| 24 January | 1.4° north of the Moon |
| 15 February | descending node |
| 20 February | 1.7° north of the Moon |
| 19 March | 2.1° north of the Moon |
| 21 March | Sagittarius → Capricornus |
| 31 March | planetary conjunction: 0.9° north of Mars |
| 15 April | 2.5° north of the Moon |
| 21 April | west quadrature |
| 06 May | maximum declination north |
| 08 May | minimum ring opening: 20.5° |
| 11 May | stationary point: direct → retrograde |
| 12 May | 2.7° north of the Moon |
| 09 June | 2.7° north of the Moon |
| 03 July | Capricornus → Sagittarius |
| 06 July | 2.5° north of the Moon |
| 20 July | opposition: magnitude +0.2, apparent diameter 18.5 arc-seconds |
| 02 August | 2.3° north of the Moon |
| 29 August | 2.2° north of the Moon |
| 25 September | 2.3° north of the Moon |
| 29 September | stationary point: retrograde → direct |
| 30 September | local maximum ring opening: 22.8° |
| 18 October | east quadrature |
| 23 October | 2.6° north of the Moon |
| 19 November | 2.9° north of the Moon |
| 15 December | Sagittarius → Capricornus |
| 21 December | 0.1° north of Jupiter |
| 31 December | local minimum ring opening: 20.9° |
Because the orbits of the planets are tilted slightly to the plane of the ecliptic, a planet normally passes to the north or the south of the Sun at conjunction. However, if the planet is near a node (the place in the orbit where the planet crosses the ecliptic) when it reaches conjunction, the planet may appear to cross in front of or behind the disk of the Sun. This situation occurs in January when Saturn actually passes behind the Sun from the vantage point of Earth. This type of conjunction is sometimes called an anti-transit or secondary eclipse.
