New Delhi, March 23 -- Saturn's iconic rings will temporarily vanish from view this weekend due to a rare astronomical alignment known as a ring plane crossing. The phenomenon, which occurs roughly every 13 to 15 years, will take place on Sunday, (March 23, 2025), at 21:34 IST (16:04 UTC / 12:04 p.m. EDT), as Earth passes directly through the plane of Saturn's rings.

While Saturn's rings are not physically vanishing, they will become nearly imperceptible because their super-thin edge will be facing Earth. Saturn is tilted 26.73 degrees as it orbits the Sun, and this tilt causes its rings to periodically align edge-on with Earth's perspective.

Since the rings are only about 30 feet thick but stretch up to 175,000 miles from the planet, t...