Happy Saturn’s Day – the day of the week named for Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system. And the name is especially fitting today, because the planet is at its best for the entire year. It looks like a bright star, shining all night long.

The seven-day week was created in ancient Babylon. The days were named for the seven known “planets.” The list included the Sun, Moon, and the five true planets that are easily visible to the naked eye.

The day was split into 24 hours, with each hour named for a planet. The planets were ranked by how long it took them to cross through the background of stars. Saturn takes the longest, so it was number one on the list. Each day was named for the planet that came up in the first hour of that day. So “Saturn’s Day” was the first day of the week. That changed later on, especially in the Christian era, when the week began a day later, on the Sun’s Day – Sunday.

Other than Saturn and the Sun and Moon- Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – old English adopted the planet names from the Norse pantheon of gods. Tuesday is named for Tiw – the representation of Mars. It’s followed by Woden, Thor, and Freya – Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus – celestial names for the days of the week.

Saturn is low in the east at nightfall, and looks like a bright star. It climbs high across the south later on, and sets around sunrise.

Script by Damond Benningfield