Starting today – on February 8, 2012 – Saturn will begin to go in a retrograde or westward direction in front of the constellation Virgo. That’s a signal that the best time to see Saturn in 2012 has begun.

Give me 5 minutes, and I’ll give you Saturn in 2012

The planet Saturn – a golden world that appears to shine steadily on the sky’s dome – is rising in the east somewhere around 11 p.m. to midnight. Saturn climbs upward through the night and soars to its highest point in the southern sky around 5 a.m. The beginning of retrograde motion means that Saturn will be rising earlier each evening with each passing day. It’ll soon be in a more convenient place for evening viewing.

The moon, Regulus and Mars low in the east at mid-evening.

If you don’t want to stay up so late, you can still see plenty of planets this early evening. Dazzling Venus and Jupiter pop out first thing at dusk. And if you have binoculars, you can spot Uranus close to Venus at nightfall. Look for the red planet Mars before bedtime, as it rises above the eastern horizon around 9 to 10 p.m., as shown on the sky chart on the right. We’ll tell you about these early evening planets on tomorrow’s show, but for the meantime, we return to Saturn and its retrograde.

Rising time for Mars and Saturn in your sky

Some four-and-a-half months from now – on June 26, 2012 – Saturn’s retrograde motion will end. Then Saturn will still be visible, but its time of best viewing for the year will be over. In other words, after June, Saturn’s maximum brightness for the year will be past. It’ll still be visible, but it’ll seem to have lost some luster.

What’s happening here? As a general rule, Saturn appears to travel eastward in front of the background stars. But you won’t see Saturn moving eastward in front of Virgo again until after June 2012. However, Saturn doesn’t literally change direction. If you think in terms of Saturn’s orbit around the sun, you might enjoy knowing that Saturn always travels in an eastward direction in orbit.

But our Earth in its smaller, faster orbit around the sun is now in the process of passing between Saturn and the sun. We’ll pass between Saturn and the sun on April 15, 2012. Saturn is the 6th planet outward from the sun and moves more slowly than we do in orbit. Saturn now appears to be moving in retrograde – opposite its usual eastward motion – because our planet Earth, like a fast racing car, is now zooming by Saturn from the inside track. You know how, when you’re in a fast car on the highway and you pass a slower car, it can seem to be moving backwards? That’s the case here. As seen from Earth, Saturn will look like it’s moving westward through the stars – even though it’s really not. Isn’t nature cool?

If you want, you can track Saturn’s upcoming retrograde for yourself. Notice Saturn’s present position relative to Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Presently, Saturn shines to the northeast of Spica. By the end of its retrograde in late June 2012, golden Saturn will have moved north of Virgo’s sparkling blue-white star. The stunning contrast of color should enable you to distinguish Saturn from Spica all the while.

So the best time in 2012 to see Saturn has begun. Check out this year’s how-to-see Saturn post if you’re not sure how to find it. Or look for Saturn on the nights of February 11 and 12, when it’ll be near the moon. With its retrograde motion beginning today, Saturn will be at its best for about the next four months of 2012.