The Saturn's Rings are closing up, an orbital, perspective and alignment effect.

 

Images captured in 2017 and 2023, 5 years apart, using the 127mm Meade apo refractor , x3 Televue Barlow and two generations of QHY planetary CMOS video cameras. Credit Kurt Thrust and Pip Stakkert.

" The planet Saturn takes 29.5  Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun. Saturn's axis of rotation is inclined at an angle 26.7 degrees to its orbital plane around the Sun. The visible rings occupy  the planets equatorial plane and from our point of view we cross this plane every 13 to 15 years. Saturn's equinoxes, when the Sun passes through the plane of the rings, are not equally spaced in time. On each and every orbit, the Sun is south of the ring plane for 13.5 years and north for 15.2 years. The images of Saturn taken five years apart as shown above, demonstrate the apparent closing of the rings as viewed from Earth. The images show the south polar region inclined towards the Sun. In 2025 we will see the rings edge on and after that the north polar region will become increasing inclined towards the Sun. I can remember seeing the rings approaching edge on through the eyepiece back in the 19990s prior the opening of the Jodrell Plank Observatory. This time around we will try to gets some images of the equinox".- Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory

 

Animation credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Tdadamemd

This is an animation of the 28 images of Saturn shown in Saturnoppositions.jpg (simulated views using a computer program written by Tom Ruen). This animation demonstrates the 29.5-year orbital period of Saturn by opposition date, as well as the dramatic changes in the orientation of the planet's ring disk. The ring system revolves around a fixed axis, so both sides of the ring disk are visible from Earth during each period in which Saturn orbits the Sun.