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Where Are Saturn's Moons Tonight?

Planning to observe Saturn? Choose a date and time to see where seven of its major moons should appear around the planet: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus.

Yes — those tiny points beside Saturn can be moons. Titan is usually the easiest to recognise, but with suitable equipment and conditions several other satellites can be recorded. Use the ephemeris below to identify which is which.

Show me Saturn's moons

Select the UTC date and hour of your observation.

Ephemeris coverage: 1 January 2020 – 1 February 2030. Times are UTC.
EAST APPARENT SKY VIEW WEST
SATURN Mimas Mimas Enceladus Enceladus Tethys Tethys Dione Dione Rhea Rhea Titan Titan Iapetus Iapetus
Requested: 05/09/2026 09:00 UTC · ephemeris sample used: 5 September 2026 · 09:00 UTC
Mimas Enceladus Tethys Dione Rhea Titan Iapetus

The moon marker sizes are deliberately enlarged so that the satellites remain visible on screen. Their positions are based on the stored apparent offsets from Saturn; the bodies themselves are not shown to physical scale.

Observed image of Saturn with several moons visible around it
Saturn observed on 8 October 2022 at 20:00 UTC. The image gain was increased to reveal faint moons, causing Saturn itself to appear overexposed.

Can you identify the moons?

This real observation was taken on 8 October 2022 at 20:00 UTC. Several faint points can be seen around the overexposed planet.

Enter 08 / 10 / 2022 / 20 UTC in the tool above and compare the predicted positions with the photograph. Which points are Saturn's moons — and which moon is which?

This turns an ordinary telescope image into a small astronomical investigation rather than simply a photograph.

Now use those moons to weigh Saturn.

Once you know how far Saturn's moons orbit from the planet and how long they take to complete an orbit, Kepler's Third Law lets you estimate Saturn's mass.

Calculate Saturn's mass →
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