Saturn and its rings constantly look terrific when seen through a telescope, however this night offers a terrific chance to target the world’s moons through an 8-inch or bigger instrument..
Two inner moons– 12 th-magnitude Enceladus and 13 th-magnitude Mimas– reach biggest eastern elongation within an hour of each other and appear under excellent watching conditions. .
The watching is specifically excellent tonight since the intense glare of Saturn’s rings generally masks these moons when they lie closer to the world.
You can discover the 2 moons tonight standing simply beyond the rings’ edge midway in between the 10 th-magnitude satellites Dione and Tethys.
Plan observing targets for each night by overtakingAstronomy‘s The Sky This Week column