orion25

Thanks, Jeremy. Did you have clear skies for the opposition?

Thanks, my friend. Sending clear skies your way. I can't wait to see your images!

Imaging and observing on the night of opposition revealed the notable Seeliger effect. The rings of Saturn show significant brightening from the full illumination of the Sun. I included an image from just a week prior "highlighting" the effect. Both images were captured with the ASI 224mc and Orion 180mm Mak-Cass using FireCapture, processed in Registax 6, with post-processing in Photoshop. Identical capture settings were used for both images: I generally prefer imaging Saturn in the weeks before or after opposition. The Seeliger effect seems to wash out the finer details (at least for me). Images captured at r.j.s. observatory™ Cheers! Reggie 🤩

Another winner! Keep 'em coming! Reggie

Thanks, Simon. I look forward to getting a striking edge-on image in 2025! 🤩

Nice GRS!

Crackin' images, Simon! I like the softness and texture while still revealing copious detail. Saturn is a cornucopia of colors! The GRS AND a moon/shadow transit can't be beat! Reggie

Great images, Chris! You can def see the tilt difference. By March 2025, the rings will resemble a line cutting across the planet 🤩 Reggie

Great image, Stuart! Lots of detail; loving the GRS. Brilliant animation

Thanks, my friend! I want to get an image of Saturn when it is fully edge-on in 2025 and make a montage including these two images.

Nice work!

Brilliant, Luke! Nice crescent

Bravo, buddy!

I had a great Friday night with my Big Mak (Orion 180mm Mak-Cass) and I stayed out late enough for Saturn to get good elevation. I did some lucky imaging with the trusty old ASI 224mc and produced the following image: You can see the more edge-on appearance as compared to this image from 2021: Saturn is moving toward an edge-on apparition in 2025. Will be most interesting! Clear skies! Reggie 🤩

The IR seems to add a certain glow to the images and an almost three-dimensional quality. I love them! Reggie

It's a different way to look at these gas giants, off the beaten path. I was thinking about doing more imaging in methane and IR to bring out details I haven't seen before and just for the pure aesthetics of it.

Thanks, Robert! I was fortunate to catch Io making a transit (upper right dot on the top band); the shadow had already transited off the limb.

No laughing here, mate. Looks like my early Saturn images. It will be interesting to compare these with the ones you will get when Saturn is edge-on this time around!

I would love to see them. You can post them in this thread if you like.

Thanks, Pete. I look forward to some striking edge-on views in 2025!

Love the C8 image! Very crisp and colorful

Great first attempt, StarDuke! I like the first two because they closely match what I see in the eyepiece. Regards, Reggie

Thanks, George. The heat has been really oppressive here in the States, but some nice nights (and mornings) appear unexpectedly. The Canadian wildfires were not on anybody's radar! The smoke has drifted down as far as my region in the southeastern U.S., but sometimes you get a break if you're an opportunist like me, lol. I saw a clear pre-dawn sky with two brilliant gas giants and rushed to set up my rig before work and voila! You and the Mrs. have a blast in Italy! Cheers! Reggie

Between Canadian wildfire smoke and oppressive humidity (and a bit of Saharan dust) I managed to image the gas giants at pre-dawn. The seeing was surprisingly good and I was able to get some workable data. I even caught Io transiting Jupiter (white dot on the right of the upper large belt)! Captured with the usual suspects - Orion 180mm Mak, ASI 224mc, Firecapture, post-processing in Registax 6 and Photoshop: Saturn is moving edge-on from our perspective, peaking in 2025. I'm particularly pleased with how it came out. Cheers! Reggie 🤩