If you’re an avid stargazer, you may have noticed that Saturn—the second-largest planet in our solar system—looks a little different. The planet’s famous rings have disappeared from view, a phenomenon known as a ring plane crossing that happens every 13 to 15 years.

The rings have been slowly fading from view over the past few months, as seen from Earth. This optical illusion occurs when Saturn’s angle of tilt toward Earth places the rings edge-on from our point of view. Because the planet’s rings are so thin and flat, when they’re turned edge-on to us, they appear to have disappeared, according to Earth Sky. Of course, the rings are still visible if viewed from space.

Saturn’s rings will be visible again from Earth after March, but they will temporarily disappear from view again in November. On November 23, 2025, the rings will be at their narrowest from our perspective, making them difficult or impossible to see. Soon after, the rings start the transition to a wide visibility, which they won’t reach until 2032, per Earth Sky.

While it is possible to see Saturn without its rings using a telescope, the viewing conditions aren’t ideal. This is because Saturn is currently close to the sun, making it too bright for us to easily see. Per Earth Sky, spotting Saturn is difficult between February and May.

One day, though, Saturn’s rings really will disappear. In 1981, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft completed a flyby of Saturn. The observations from this mission allowed NASA to publish research in 2018 revealing that Saturn’s rings are disappearing at a fast pace.

This phenomenon is due to a process called ring rain. Per NASA, Saturn’s rings are draining away toward the planet by gravity in the form of dusty ice particles. Based on these findings, the space agency estimates that the rings will be gone in 100 to 300 million years.