Saturn's satellites are a lot fainter than the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter, only eclipses of the two brightest, Titan (magnitude 8.6) and Rhea (magnitude 9.9) are likely to be observable through a small telescope. The inner satellites are fainter still and eclipses will occur close to Saturn's disk, making them difficult events.
Eclipses of Rhea started in July 2008 and occur at intervals of approximately 4.5 days. Those of Titan, which is considerably further from Saturn than Rhea, do not start until 2009. They occur at intervals of approximately 16 days. The tables show times of eclipses of both these satellites. All eclipses are shown, whether they are visible from New Zealand or not.
The dates and times of events are in Universal Time (UT). To convert from UT to NZST add 12 to the hours if they are less than 12. If the hours are 12 or more, subtract 12 from them and add 1 to the date. During NZDT add 13 to the hours if less than 11, else subtract 11 and add 1 to the date.
Saturn is at conjunction with the Sun on 2008 September 4 and again 2009 September 17. It will be too close to the Sun for observation about a month either side of those dates.
Subsequent eclipses will take place with Titan at increasing distances from Saturn, especially when it comes out of eclipse, so being more readily observable from the Earth. Most of these events are visible from New Zealand up to the time of conjunction in September. After conjunction the situation is reversed with the disappearances into eclipse taking place further from Saturn than reappearances. The eclipses after conjunction are not observable from New Zealand as they occur either during the hours of daylight or when Saturn is set. Eclipses unobservable from New Zealand are shown in red.
The table gives the times of all eclipses except for a few weeks when Saturn is too close to the Sun and conjunction to observe. Also shown is the distance of Titan from Saturn's limb in arc seconds and the position angle of Titan with respect to Saturn, at the time of the event. The equatorial diameter of Saturn (without the rings) ranges from just on 20" at opposition to 16" close to conjunction.
At an eclipse it will take Titan 15 minutes or so to move completely into or out of Saturn's shadow. So fading, or brightening, will occur over a period of a few minutes either side of the predicted time. The exact time at which the satellite will disappear from, or reappear into, view will depend on the size of the telescope used, the observing conditions and the closeness of Titan to Saturn itself. Reappearances will be easier to observe than the disappearances as the latter take place when Titan is close to Saturn's lit limb. After May the disappearance stage will occur before sunset in New Zealand, so after that date only the reappearance will be visible.
| Eclipses of Titan | |||||||
| Disappearance of Titan into eclipse | Reappearance of Titan from eclipse | ||||||
| Date UT | Time UT | Distance | PA | Date UT | Time UT | Distance | PA |
| 2009 Mar 4 | 11:41 | 1" | 212° | 2009 Mar 4 | 14:56 From Occultation | 147° | |
| Mar 20 | 10:24 | 2" | 186° | Mar 20 | 14:04 | 5" | 132° |
| Apr 5 | 09:18 | 3" | 165° | Apr 5 | 13:40 | 11" | 122° |
| Apr 21 | 08:18 | 5" | 151° | Apr 21 | 13:12 | 16" | 117° |
| May 7 | 07:22 | 7" | 144° | May 7 | 12:41 | 19" | 114° |
| May 23 | 06:29 | 7" | 139° | May 23 | 12:07 | 20" | 112° |
| Jun 8 | 05:38 | 7" | 137° | Jun 8 | 11:31 | 20" | 109° |
| Jun 24 | 04:50 | 5" | 137° | Jun 24 | 10:52 | 18" | 107° |
| Jul 10 | 04:03 | 2" | 138° | Jul 10 | 10:12 | 16" | 105° |
| Jul 26 | 00:03, Occultation | 215° | Jul 26 | 09:30 | 13" | 102° | |
| Aug 10 | 23:35, Occultation | 239° | Aug 11 | 08:45 | 9" | 97° | |
| September 17, Saturn at conjunction with Sun | |||||||
| Disappearance of Titan into eclipse | Reappearance of Titan from eclipse | ||||||
| Date UT | Time UT | Distance | PA | Date UT | Time UT | Distance | PA |
| Oct 13 | 23:50 | 7" | 294° | Oct 14 | 05:25 from Occultation | 8° | |
| Oct 29 | 23:13 | 10" | 296° | Oct 30 | 04:27 | 2" | 342° |
| Nov 14 | 23:38 | 14" | 298° | Nov 15 | 03:27 | 6" | 330° |
| Nov 30 | 22:07 | 17" | 300° | Dec 1 | 02:23 | 9" | 323° |
| Dec 16 | 21:41 | 18" | 302° | Dec 17 | 01:12 | 11" | 319° |
| 2010 Jan 1 | 21:26 | 18" | 305° | 2010 Jan 1 | 23:51 | 13" | 316° |
The first shadow transit occur near Saturn's north pole (lower pole as seen from the southern hemisphere. Subsequent transits gradually move south so that by August they occur close to the rings. After conjunction the events continue to move southwards, until the final shadow transit on 2010 January 9 occurs close to the planet's south pole.
Shadow transits are likely to be fairly difficult to observe and will require a medium sized telescope.
Transits of Titan itself across Saturn occur during parts of the first two transits in February and March and again from mid July to early October. The times of Titan's transits mostly overlap part of the times of the shadow transits. Transit of Titan will be very difficult to observe as there will be little contrast between the satellite and background planet.
| Shadow Transits of Titan | |||
| Start of Shadow Transit | End of Shadow Transit | ||
| Date UT | Time UT | Date UT | Time UT |
| 2009 Feb 24 | 10:49 | 2009 Feb 24 | 13:19 |
| 2009 Mar 12 | 09:32 | 2009 Mar 12 | 12:58 |
| 2009 Mar 28 | 08:21 | 2009 Mar 28 | 12:29 |
| 2009 Apr 13 | 07:22 | 2009 Apr 13 | 11:56 |
| 2009 Apr 29 | 06:23 | 2009 Apr 29 | 11:20 |
| 2009 May 15 | 05:28 | 2009 May 15 | 10:42 |
| 2009 May 31 | 04:34 | 2009 May 31 | 10:02 |
| 2009 Jun 16 | 03:42 | 2009 Jun 16 | 09:20 |
| 2009 Jul 2 | 02:52 | 2009 Jul 2 | 08:37 |
| 2009 Jul 18 | 02:03 | 2009 Jul 18 | 07:52 |
| 2009 Aug 3 | 01:15 | 2009 Aug 3 | 07:06 |
| 2009 Aug 19 | 00:28 | 2009 Aug 19 | 06:17 |
| September 17, Saturn at conjunction with Sun | |||
| Start of Shadow Transit | End of Shadow Transit | ||
| Date UT | Time UT | Date UT | Time UT |
| 2009 Oct 5 | 22:13 | 2009 Oct 6 | 03:39 |
| 2009 Oct 21 | 21:30 | 2009 Oct 22 | 02:42 |
| 2009 Nov 6 | 20:50 | 2009 Nov 7 | 01:42 |
| 2009 Nov 22 | 20:11 | 2009 Nov 23 | 00:39 |
| 2009 Dec 8 | 19:35 | 2009 Dec 8 | 23:33 |
| 2009 Dec 24 | 19:03 | 2009 Dec 24 | 22:21 |
| 2010 Jan 9 | 18:42 | 2010 Jan 9 | 21:00 |
| End of sequence of shadow transits of Titan | |||
The distance of Rhea from the limb of Saturn at eclipse is just over 8" at a maximum, eg at the end of May, considerably less than for Titan. In addition Rhea is about 1.6 magnitudes fainter than Titan. Both these factors will make observation of Rhea's eclipses more difficult.
Before opposition on March 8, eclipses of Rhea take place to the west of Saturn, between opposition and conjunction (September 17) eclipses of Rhea take place to the east of Saturn. If Saturn is allowed to drift through a telescopes field of view, it moves to the west.
Transits of the shadow of Rhea are difficult events due to the small size of Rhea's shadow on the face of Saturn. They occur close to mid way in time between pairs of eclipses.
| Eclipses of Rhea | |||||
| Date | Time UT | Date | Time UT | ||
| Disappearance | Reappearance | Disappearance | Reappearance | ||
| 2008 Nov 22 | 09:04 | 14:05 | 2008 Nov 26/27 | 21:30 | 02:34 |
| Dec 1 | 09:56 | 15:04 | Dec 5/6 | 22:22 | 03:32 |
| Dec 10 | 10:48 | 16:00 | Dec 14/15 | 23:15 | 04:27 |
| Dec 19 | 11:41 | 16:54 | Dec 24 | 00:07 | 05:20 |
| Dec 28 | 12:33 | 17:46 | 2009 Jan 2 | 01:00 | 06:11 |
| 2009 Jan 6 | 13:26 | 18:35 | 2009 Jan 11 | 01:52 | 06:59 |
| Jan 15 | 14:19 | 19:21 | Jan 20 | 02:45 | 07:44 |
| Jan 24 | 15:12 | 20:06 | Jan 29 | 03:38 | 08:27 |
| Feb 2 | 16:05 | 20:48 | Feb 7 | 04:32 | 09:08 |
| Feb 11 | 16:59 | 21:28 | Feb 16 | 05:25 | 09:47 |
| Feb 20 | 17:52 | 22:06 | Feb 25 | 06:19 | 10:24 |
| Mar 1 | 18:46 | 22:43 | Mar 6 | 07:14 | 11:01 |
| Mar 8 | Saturn at opposition, eclipses move from west to east of the planet | ||||
| Date | Time UT | Date | Time UT | ||
| Disappearance | Reappearance | Disappearance | Reappearance | ||
| Mar 10 | 19:41 | 23:23 | Mar 15 | 08:03 | 11:52 |
| Mar 19/20 | 20:24 | 00:20 | Mar 24 | 08:46 | 12:48 |
| Mar 28/29 | 21:08 | 01:17 | Apr 2 | 09:30 | 13:45 |
| Apr 6/7 | 21:52 | 02:14 | Apr 11 | 10:15 | 14:42 |
| Apr 15/16 | 22:38 | 03:11 | Apr 20 | 11:02 | 15:39 |
| Apr 24/25 | 23:25 | 04:08 | Apr 29 | 11:50 | 16:36 |
| May 4 | 00:14 | 05:05 | May 8 | 12:39 | 17:33 |
| May 13 | 01:04 | 06:02 | May 17 | 13:30 | 18:30 |
| May 22 | 01:55 | 06:59 | May 26 | 14:21 | 19:27 |
| May 31 | 02:47 | 07:56 | Jun 4 | 15:14 | 20:25 |
| Jun 9 | 03:41 | 08:53 | Jun 13 | 16:08 | 21:21 |
| Jun 18 | 04:36 | 09:50 | Jun 22 | 17:04 | 22:18 |
| Jun 27 | 05:33 | 10:47 | Jul 1 | 18:01 | 23:15 |
| Jul 6 | 06:31 | 11:44 | Jul 10/11 | 19:01 | 00:12 |
| Jul 15 | 07:31 | 12:40 | Jul 19/20 | 20:02 | 01:09 |
| Jul 24 | 08:32 | 13:37 | Jul 28/29 | 21:04 | 02:05 |
| Aug 2 | 09:36 | 14:33 | Aug 6/7 | 22:08 | 03:01 |
| Aug 11 | 10:40 | 15:29 | Aug 15/16 | 23:13 | 03:57 |
| Aug 20 | 11:47 | 16:25 | Aug 25 | 00:20 | 04:53 |
| Sep 17 | Saturn at conjunction with Sun, eclipses move from east to west of the planet | ||||
| Date | Time UT | Date | Time UT | ||
| Disappearance | Reappearance | Disappearance | Reappearance | ||
| Oct 13 | 18:02 | 22:24 | Oct 18 | 06:29 | 10:55 |
| Oct 22 | 18:57 | 23:27 | Oct 27 | 07:25 | 11:57 |
| Oct 31/Nov 1 | 19:53 | 00:28 | Nov 5 | 08:20 | 12:57 |
| Nov 9/10 | 20:48 | 01:27 | Nov 14 | 09:15 | 13:56 |
| Nov 18/19 | 21:43 | 02:24 | Nov 23 | 10:10 | 14:53 |
| Nov 27/28 | 22:38 | 03:20 | Dec 2 | 11:06 | 15:48 |
| Dec 6/7 | 23:33 | 04:14 | Dec 11 | 12:01 | 16:41 |
| Dec 16 | 00:28 | 05:07 | Dec 20 | 12:56 | 17:34 |
| Dec 25 | 01:23 | 06:00 | Dec 29 | 13:51 | 18:25 |