Saturn is now (the autumn of 1912) in the first part of his path
through Taurus, and he will be in that constellation during all of 1913
and the greater part of 1914.
From 1912 to 1920 he will be a beautiful object in the winter sky,
threading his way slowly through that splendid galaxy of stars that
blazes across the glittering sky peculiar to the cold winter nights. He
will pass between the Pleiades and Aldebaran, and will be in opposition
in that region on November 23, 1912. Farther east in the constellation
he will be in opposition in the first week of December, 1913. Almost
on the border line between Taurus and Gemini he will be in opposition
during the third week in December, 1914; and, as this is very near the
perihelion point in Saturn’s orbit, the planet will then be at his
brightest.
In 1915 he will not be in opposition at all; but sometime within the
first two or three days of 1916 he will reach that position, and
will then be well on in his journey across Gemini. For these four
years--from 1912 to 1916--he will be visible during the entire night,
at the times of his opposition, and in his best condition. The rings
that surround him will then be placed so that we will get a broad
expanse of light from them, as well as from the planet itself, which
greatly increases its brightness.
Saturn will then continue to move across Gemini, passing in the early
part of 1917 under Castor and Pollux, and very near to Neptune--a
meeting which, unfortunately, cannot be seen with the naked eye. During
this year (1917) he will begin his journey through the smallest of
all the constellations of the zodiac, Cancer, passing near the lovely
cluster of stars we call the Bee-hive, and will reach Leo early in
1919, where he will remain until about the end of 1921. While in this
region he will be visible during the winter and all of the spring and
the early summer. All three of these constellations--Gemini, Cancer,
and Leo--while seen in the winter, are particularly lovely in the
spring. Gemini, in the beautiful evenings of May, hangs with its two
splendid stars in the northwest above the setting sun; and with the
soft face of Saturn near them, these stars will be more than ever
charming in the two seasons that the planet remains with them.
In 1917 Saturn will be in opposition in the region of Gemini, about
the middle of January. In 1918 opposition will occur about the last of
January, and Saturn will then be in Cancer. The next year he will be
in opposition sometime during the second week in February, and will
then be situated between the Bee-hive, in Cancer, and the brilliant
first-magnitude star Regulus, in Leo. The next two oppositions will
be in Leo, about thirteen days later each year. Saturn will then pass
during the first half of 1922 into Virgo, which is the largest of all
the constellations, and he will remain there until three oppositions
have taken place, about thirteen days later each year.
About a year after passing Spica, the white, sparkling, first-magnitude
star in Virgo, Saturn will enter Libra, crossing that constellation
near the lower part of the square in it. From there he will go through
Scorpio and Sagittarius, passing above Antares and the “milk dipper,”
and in about 1932 will have reached that comparatively starless region
which includes a part of Sagittarius and all of Capricornus, Aquarius,
Pisces, and Aries. For the next nine and a half years he will give
distinction to this part of the heavens, and thus complete his circuit
of twenty-nine and a half years, and, with never resting, never
changing movement, will start on a new round, with a new generation of
eyes following his fair face along the great circle of the ecliptic.
Saturn is brightest when he is in Taurus, not far from Gemini, as he
will be in 1914, and again when he is in Scorpio, as he will be between
fourteen and fifteen years later. The recurring times at which we can
get an evening view of him at his greatest brightness thus alternate
between midwinter and midsummer. He is least bright when he is in
the last half of Leo and when he is in that part of Aquarius above
Fomalhaut. Between these positions he gradually waxes and wanes in
brightness, changes that are largely due to the position of his rings.