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Saturn to make appearance in Finnish skies on Wednesday

Amateur and professional astronomers in Finland have something to look forward to on Wednesday night.

Titan-kuu Saturnuksen kiertoradalla. Kuvassa näkyy myös Saturnuksen renkaita.
File photo of Saturn and one of its 53 moons, Titan. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
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The ringed planet Saturn will be unusually visible as a glowing dot in the sky, right next to the moon on Wednesday night.

As Saturn hurtles through the solar system, it is currently positioned at an angle to the sun that its reflection reaches all the way to Earth, which is a rare occurrence.

According to Finland's oldest astronomy association Ursa, the massive planet's reflections peaked on Tuesday night, but the ringed, gassy behemoth was mostly obscured from view by trees on the horizon.

But the planet should still be quite visible late Wednesday, when Saturn will be positioned right next to the moon, high up in the heavens, according to Ursa.

All people need to do is head outside and look up - and hope for clear skies.

On Wednesday, sunset is shortly before 11 pm in southern Finland, followed by sunrise before 4 am. In Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle, sunset is at 12.54 am, with sunrise less than a hour later at 1.38 am. Further north than that, there is virtually no night at this time of year.