At left is an example of the impression of Saturn you might get on a good night through a small telescope. The image would actually be smaller, but you could perceive about this level of detail on the great ringed planet.

A great choice for a telescope for Saturn viewing is a long focus refractor. I observe planets routinely through a quality 60mm refractor of long focus, and get very enjoyable views. Superb views of Saturn can be obtained with a 4 inch refractor, but nice views through any quality refractor telescope are routine. I've even obtained good views of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars with the quality 50mm refractor shown at left.

Refractors perform well because they tend to cool down to ambient temperature quicker that other telescope types and give steadier views. They also give the highest contrast views for a telescope of any given aperture.

You can see Saturn and possibly 4 or 5 if it's moons at low power, between 50x and 100x. To see the rings in some detail, you'll need to move to 100x or better.

Another good choice for observing Saturn is a Maksutov telescope. Even a 90mm (3.5 inch) version will easily show the Saturn's rings and likely the Cassini division, the dark gab in the rings.

Maksutov telescopes are renowned for their crisp images that are free of chromatic aberration. They also have high focal ratios and thus long effective focal lengths, making them ideal for planetary observing. While they can't quite match up to the contrast of an equal diameter refractor, the Maksutov will none-the-less deliver very pleasing views of Saturn.

One of my favorite telescope for planetary work is the Long Focus Newtonian. Such telescopes can be constructed or purchased cheaply compared to other similar sized instruments. The long focus Newtonian can use a smaller diagonal to reduce the loss of contrast. They also are less sensitive to alignment errors, and offer flat, coma free fields of view. The 4.25 inch f/10 Newtonian is a commonly available telescope, and makes a great planetary instrument for the small budget.

Pictured at left is my 6 inch f/10 Stargazer Steve Newtonian. It is designed to give near refractor performance on planetary objects for a fraction of the cost of a similar sized refractor.

At left you see an illustration of the main features of Saturn that are within reach of the typical amateur astronomer telescope.

The obvious thing is of course the rings. Most telescopes of 50mm or better will show the rings and likely the ring gap -- the area between the rings and the planet itself. Depending upon the relationship between Earth, Saturn, and the Sun, you may see the planet's shadow cast on the rings as they pass behind the planet.

Moving up in size to 60mm or 70mm, you are likely to be able to see the small dark gap in the rings known as the Cassini Division. There is yet another, much smaller gap near the outer edge of the rings known as the Encke Gap, but most small telescopes will not likely see this feature.

As Saturn goes along its decades long journey around the sun, the inclination of its rings changes. At left is an example of how Saturn may look when the rings are viewed more nearly edge on.

In fact, about every 14 to 15 years, Saturn's rings are viewed precisely edge on, and become invisible to the Earthly observer. The most recent one of these ring disappearing acts occurred in early September of 2009.

This image of the current inclination of Saturn's rings was obtained with the xephem program, and is called the xephem Saturn view. It shows tonight's approximate view of Saturn, and is particularly useful in predicting what the tilt will be in Saturn's rings.

Any roman numerals in this image refer to Saturn's moons that might be visible in this narrow field of view depiction.

This is a wider field of view depiction of the xephem Saturn view illustration. It is handy for finding out which moons of Saturn will be visible tonight, and where they will be located.

The orientation of this view is that seen through a telescope with a star diagonal attachment. It's right side up but reversed from left to right, as in a typical refractor or Cassegrain telescope.

The labeling for Saturn's moons is shown in the following table.

There are things you can do to improve your Saturn viewing. Let your telescope cool down to ambient temperature before expecting it to deliver steady images. The time this takes is longer for bigger telescopes, and generally longer for reflector type telescopes.

Don't observe over the top of nearby buildings. The heat rising from the buildings will cause significant image instability. If possible, observe when the planet is highest in the sky, rather than low to the horizon.

Try using a color filter on your eyepiece. Yellow is a common filter used to enhance the contrast of the Saturn features. I generally use an apodizing screen on my 6 inch f/5. That apodizing screen helps reduce some of the light scattered by the secondary. That has the effect of slightly enhancing contrast.