Seeing more of Saturn.

[jimbo84]

Hello everyone,

I caught my first views of Saturn back in April when I had to wait up until 2 am to see it! At the time it appeared to have a companion - it seemed to be on the edge of perception so I couldn't tell if it was really there, but later did confirm it was Titan. I was chuffed as it didn't occur to me that I'd be able to see the moons with the 127 Mak.

Last week I looked again - Titan seemed more obvious and two further companions were perceptible. I made a crude drawing with a biro and the next day was able to confirm I'd seen Rhea and Dione!

Anyway, last night was clear so got ready early. While waiting for Saturn to make his appearance I took a look at Venus and Jupiter and had a play with the new ZWO ASI034MC.

At about 22:30 the gas giant became viewable and I was able to watch until about midnight on and off. I have some problems with the house and trees that get in the way from time to time. Also I now have Sky Safari 4 on my phone so I can quickly refer to it and confirm what I am looking it.

It certainly rings true that the more you look the more you see, as you become accustomed to observing, I suppose. Having centered it using the 32mm, I switched to the 8mm giving 188x: I think I could just make out the Cassini division and a band on the planet. Titan and Rhea were again obvious. I think I could see Tethys, not sure whether I could really pick Dione out against the glare of the planet. I quickly popped the ZWO in and took this 6.4s exposure: (I turned it the right way up and labelled it to make it easier for me to remember)

I also got some better images of the planet itself, I still have some work to do, but that is probably best saved for the imaging section... anyway this one is not too bad.

Later on, towards midnight I was still looking and thought I could see another moon, SS4 confirmed Iapetus at magnitude +11.4, so I take it mostly the dark hemisphere is showing?

I took a series of 16 second exposures and got one that was fairly stable:

Really surprised I can see such a dim object, but very happy and looking forward to seeing it again!

[des anderson]

Wow...great photos....the one Saturn great and the moons,very good also,why not combine the two,there was an articlel in one of the astronomy mags a couple of months ago on how to do it.

[jimbo84]

Wow...great photos....the one Saturn great and the moons,very good also,why not combine the two,there was an articlel in one of the astronomy mags a couple of months ago on how to do it.

Thanks, hmmm good idea, I think I will give that a go.

[MarsG76]

Good piccies... I had a few great viewing nights of Saturn this years season... quite something else. The thing that helps a LOT is looking through stacked "contrast booster" and "moon & sky glow" filters. You have to see to believe the difference it makes to subtle detail.

[orion25]

It is amazing what you can see with a 127 Mak. I have the Orion Starmax 127 and I love the views it gives me of Saturn and its moons. I've seen Enceladus on "good seeing nights".  Have you thought about stepping up to a 180 Mak? Big aperture and pure power! BTW, nice pics!

Reggie