Saturn is our pick of the planets in July 2025, and in this guide we'll show you how to make the most of ringed world this month.
After a relatively poor period where the main planets were clustered close to the Sun either in the evening or morning sky, some are now beginning to escape.
- Get our complete guide to observing Saturn with a telescope
Saturn isn’t that well placed at the start of July 2025, reaching an altitude of around 23° in brightening twilight at 03:40 BST (02:40 UT) on 1 July.
But it achieves a decent position 31° above the southeastern horizon at 04:00 BST (03:00 UT) by the end of the month under relative darkness.
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Observing Saturn this month – key dates
Saturn’s magnitude at the start of July is +0.7, the planet located to the southeast of the faint but distinctive Circlet asterism in Pisces.
By the end of the month, Saturn brightens slightly to mag. +0.5 and, being a relatively slow mover, is located in the same general area of the sky.
Currently, Saturn shares the sky with the even slower-moving planet Neptune, the pair sitting just 59 arcminutes apart on 1 July, with Neptune north of Saturn.
By the end of the month, the distance will have increased but only by a small amount, with Saturn located 64 arcminutes to the south of Neptune on 31 July.
In the middle of the month, on the morning of 16 July, a 71%-lit waning gibbous Moon is located 4.2° to the west of Saturn.
Saturn's ring plane crossing
Saturn’s most distinctive feature is its ring system.
Back in March 2025, the rings disappeared for a while when the planet appeared sideways-on to us, an event known as a ring plane crossing.
You can see the effects of this in the NASA image above.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t visible, as Saturn was too close to the Sun at the time.
However, the rings will remain pretty close to edge-on throughout the remainder of 2025, a situation that means there will be a number of interesting Titan transits and shadow transits to look forward to.
Saturn in July 2025, key facts
- Best time to see: 31 July, 03:00 BST (02:00 UT)
- Altitude: 31°
- Location: Pisces
- Direction: Southeast
- Features: Rings, subtle atmospheric features
- Recommended equipment: 150mm or larger
Share your Saturn observations and images with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
