I've had a love affair with the planet Saturn ever since I saw it through my first telescope almost 40 years ago. Even though the image was tiny, I could clearly see the ring system around the great planet.

Now all these years later when I put on my star parties, it's hands down the favorite telescope target. I never get tired of hearing the "oohs" and "aahs."

Saturn is at its best for 2009 this month, visible nearly all night long. Tonight it's only about 792 million miles from earth, which for Saturn is close. Actually, Saturn was even closer to Earth last month when it was about ten million miles closer. That's when Saturn was in what astronomers call opposition with the Earth. That happens when the Earth and Saturn are on the same side of the sun as they orbit our home star. In opposition the Earth lies along a line between the Sun and Saturn.

As you can see in the diagram, that geometry produces the minimum distance between us Earthlings and Saturn. Another nice benefit of Saturn around opposition time is that just like a full moon it's out all night long, rising in the east around sunset and setting around sunrise. Opposition between Earth and Saturn occurs about every 12Z\x months.

As Earth takes one calendar year to orbit the sun, it takes Saturn 29 years to complete its solar circuit. So after one year, when Earth returns to the same position in its solar orbit, Saturn only progresses one-twenty-ninth of its orbit around the sun, so it takes Saturn about another half month to "catch up" with the Earth and to once again be lined up in opposition.

It's now nearly a month since the exact day for Saturn's opposition, but the ringed wonder of the solar system is still well worth your time observing with any kind of telescope you can get a hold of. Beg, borrow, but don't steal. I know you'll love what you see.

I think it's even better to view Saturn in the evening this month even though it's just a little farther away from Earth. That's because it's now higher in the eastern sky after evening twilight, and you and your telescope don't have to fight through as much of Earth's atmosphere to see Saturn.

As a general rule for backyard astronomers it's always, always better to view any celestial object, especially planets, when they're at least 30 degrees above the horizon, which is about a third of the way from the horizon to the overhead zenith.

Specifically, as soon as darkness sets in, which is later these evenings, look for Saturn about halfway up the sky from the southeast horizon to the zenith. It's the brightest starlike object in that area of the heavens that time of night.

Don't mistake the really bright orange-ish star Arcturus for Saturn. Arcturus is lower in the sky, just above the direct eastern horizon. Saturn is higher in the sky above the southeast horizon. It's right below the rear end of the great constellation Leo the Lion. A distinct backward question mark outlines the chest and head of the king of the celestial beasts. Saturn is below and to the left of the backward query symbol, just below the triangle that makes up the hindquarters and tail of Leo.

It's even easier to locate Saturn Sunday and Monday nights in our Butler skies because the near full moon will be close by, and you can use it as a pointer.

On Sunday night, look about 15 degrees to the lower left of the moon and there's Saturn. Fifteen degrees in the sky is a little more than the width of your fist at arm's length.

On Monday night, it's even easier. Saturn will be just five degrees to the upper left of the moon. You can't miss it. The moon can really be a help with finding planets.

There is some bad news about Saturn this year.

It's suffering a cutback of power and beauty. No, it's not because of the recession, but because of the tilt of Saturn's ring system with respect to its orbit around the sun. That causes Earth to get varying views of Saturn's rings.

Some years, we see the rings as if we're looking down on the north side of them. Other years, we see them as if we're looking up at the southern side of the rings. Either way, we get great views of Saturn's greatest visual asset.

However, about every 14 years, we don't see all that much of Saturn's rings because they're on edge from our view on Earth.

That's a problem, because while Saturn's ring system is more than 130,000 miles in diameter more than half the distance between the Earth and our moon it's only about 50 feet thick. So when we see them edgewise, we don't see much of them at all. Right now, they're not exactly edgewise, but later this summer, they will be, and the rings will virtually disappear.

This isn't good for Saturn's public image. Saturn without rings is like America without apple pie. Also, Saturn is not nearly as bright as it usually is because Saturn's ring systems reflect more sunlight than the rest of the planet.

With the rings on edge, the fifth planet from the sun is having a bit of a power failure of brightness. Have no fear though, because the angle of Saturn's rings will open up for us in the next few years, and all will be well.

One good thing about Saturn's rings being edgewise this year is that Saturn's many moons are more visible. With even a small telescope they look like tiny little stars swarming Saturn. One of the moons, Titan, is much bigger than the rest and is a candidate for possible life in our solar system.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.