Tuesday April 16th the outer ringed planet will be aphelion, its furthest distance from the Sun for this particular orbit. At aphelion Saturn will be approximately 10.0657 AU (1,505,807,287 km; 935,665,269 miles) from the Sun. Sort of splitting the difference Saturn is approximately 9.722 AU (1,454,390,499 km; 903,716,358 miles) from the Earth.
Saturn is visible over the southern horizon before sunrise local time. It is near the ‘red planet’ Mars to the east, and Saturn is east from the heart of Scorpius the Scorpion, the reddish star Antares, and even further to the west is another outer ringed planet, Jupiter.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Our Moon reaches apogee, (greatest distance from Earth), on Monday April 8 th. At that time the Moon will more or less be at a distance of 31.68 Earth diameters (404,144 km or 251,123 miles) from the Earth.
All three will easily fit within the field of view of binoculars.
Thursay March 29th, the position of the planet Saturn with respect to the Earth and the Sun places this ringed planet at what is called western quadrature. Saturn is at a 90 degree angle from us as this graphic shows. Think third quarter Moon as that is a fair comparison of the relative positions. At this position Saturn leads the Sun across the sky from east to west as the Earth is rotating, meaning that Saturn rises before the Sun and also sets before the Sun.
Saturday March 24th the position of the planet Mars, with respect to the Earth and the Sun, places this planet at what is called western quadrature. At that orbital position Mars, and actually any outer planet at their respective quadrature, is at a 90 degree angle from the Earth as this graphic shows, and the 
