[Rigel003 (Graeme)]

Saturn is in opposition then but it's so far away from us that it doesn't make a great deal of difference to the visual impact, in terms of size of the planet in the eyepiece. It's good for viewing right now and riding high late in the night. At opposition Saturn is about 8 times the distance from the earth to the sun away from us. However even at its most distant, it's only ever about 10 times the distance from the earth to the sun away, so there's not a massive advantage in observing it at opposition. Mars, on the other hand, is so close that there's a world of difference between viewing it at opposition and other times.

Both Saturn and Mars are great targets this year, so high in the sky that when you observe them you're looking though less atmosphere and less likely to suffer from image degradation from air movement. If you have a poor view of Saturn it's likely due to seeing conditions on the night. Keep observing and you will eventually find a calm, still night when the detail snaps in. It looks magical in even a small scope.