Temporarily, Saturn’s distinctive appearance from Earth’s perspective will change, making it appear as a pale yellow sphere without the characteristic rings surrounding the gas giant.

On Sunday, March 23, the billions of icy and rocky fragments orbiting Saturn will seemingly vanish from our view as the thin edges of the planet’s rings align towards Earth. This rare occurrence happens every 13 to 15 years when Earth passes through Saturn’s ring plane, with the last instance being in 2009.

Saturn is encircled by billions of fragments, including comets, asteroids, and broken moon pieces, that are trapped within the planet’s orbit. According to NASA, the stunning ring system stretches up to 175,000 miles (282,000 kilometers) from the planet, comprising tiny icy grains and chunks as large as a house.

Similar to Earth, Saturn’s axis is tilted at an angle of 26.73 degrees. As it orbits the Sun, Saturn’s tilt changes relative to Earth, causing its rings to disappear from our view when our planet crosses the ring plane. When Saturn is tilted towards Earth, we see the upper side of its rings, and when it’s tilted away, we see the lower side. During the period between these phases, the rings become invisible to us. However, with a powerful telescope, a thin line can be spotted around Saturn’s middle.

The plane crossing is expected to occur at approximately 12:04 p.m. ET on Sunday, as reported by in-the-sky.org. It may take a few months for Saturn’s rings to become fully visible from Earth again, with the next possible sighting predicted to be in November, according to earth.com.

According to space.com, skywatchers in mid-southern latitudes will have the best chance of spotting Saturn without its rings, which can be seen in the morning twilight above the eastern horizon. In contrast, those in mid-northern latitudes may struggle to see Saturn as it will be close to the Sun at pre-dawn and below the slanted morning ecliptic.

Although the conditions for sky watching are not ideal for most, this celestial phenomenon offers a rare opportunity to observe the movement of the planets around our shared star.