Saturn in Relation to Ursa Major

It is also worth noting (although most of you probably already know this, but possibly some don't) that planets move around the sky relative to the locations of the stars -- so Saturn may be in Leo today, but it will be part of Virgo in two years. That's why the ancient Greeks called them Planetia, which means "wanderer".

Planets seem to move relative to the stars because of their orbits around the Sun. Some planets such as Mars and Venus move much faster than Saturn against the backdrop of stars, because they orbit the Sun much more quickly.

I have seen saturn's rings aligned vertically as well. I think that has to do with the rotation of our planet and the fact that the rings are aligned at an angle to the Sol system's plane. So the vertical orientation is observed early during saturn-rise.

Am I right?

Originally posted by 2believeor0
I have seen saturn's rings aligned vertically as well. I think that has to do with the rotation of our planet and the fact that the rings are aligned at an angle to the Sol system's plane. So the vertical orientation is observed early during saturn-rise.

Am I right?

Correct. And Saturn-set, of course. Note, that your latitude is what determines the amount of ring inclination at rise and set.

At the equator the ring limbs will appear at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and appear to turn-over during the transit across the sky.

At the poles, the rings will by roughly 9 and 3 o'clock the whole time because Saturn doesn't rise very far above the horizon.