APOD: 2026 May 6 Б The Retrograde Dance of Saturn and Neptune
Explanation:
What does it mean for
Saturn and
Neptune to be in retrograde?
Featured is a composite of images taken over 34 nights from May 2025 to February
2026 tracing Saturn (brighter, foreground) and Neptune (dimmer, background). Over
that time, the two planets exhibited
retrograde motion,
meaning they appeared to move backward in the sky. This
apparent backwards motion
occurs when Earth overtakes the slower outer planets as they orbit the Sun. Imagine the Solar System
is a running track. Earth "runs" faster along the inside of the track compared to the outer planets.
As Earth approaches, aligns, and then "laps" the outer planets, they change position from ahead to behind from
the Earth's perspective. This perspective shift is what causes the outer planets to change position in the
night sky.
An animation
corresponding to todayБs image shows Saturn and NeptuneБs months-long dance across
the northern night sky. Saturn stepped from
the Pisces constellation
into Aquarius
and back again while Neptune remained in Pisces. This is the closest Saturn and Neptune have been
in the sky since their last conjunction in 1989.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
