Saturn 03/03/07

[Kain]

Did anyone look at Saturn last night during the eclipse?

I had a look and it's the best I have ever seen it! I would say the seeing was fantastic, no wobbling or nothing!

I used 20mm EP 2x Barlow and moon filter of all things and damn, the view was fantastic!

I could see various cloud bands on the disc's surface, the Cassini devision stood out like a sore thumb and there were lots of little pin pricks of light of the moons dotted around the planet.

I them boosted it up to a 5mm EP and the view was even more stunning! Not only could see all above but on the edge of the rings (outer side of the devision) I could see a little darkish lane. Could that be Encke gap?

Either way, I was mega impressed, and I'm not really one for planets.

Kain

[geppetto]

Had a quick look mate but I hadn't got a "big" scope out to do it

justice and my backache said no to dragging out more gear

Fantastic sky all round, Orion looked really majestic as it rolled onto the horizon 8)

[Andrew*]

I did have a quick glance, but I was too busy trying to get some rubbish pics to get a clear view of it. I think I need a 4mm ortho for when seeing permits, because I can't make out cassini at 6mm.

Andrew

[tony4563]

Andrew, If you can't see the Cassini with a 6mm I'm sure as hell you won't see it in a 4mm. You'll just magnify the turbulance even more. Its all down to seeing conditions whether you see Cassini or not. Saturn for me has been very disappointing this year. Although banding has been pretty evident, the Cassini Division has not. I've only caught glimpses of it now and again. Its gonna get even worse, as the rings gradually turn away from us.

[GazOC]

I didn't even think to have a look at Saturn during the eclipse, I must have been spellbound by the moon.

Same here Tony, I'm just getting glimpses of Cassini at the edges this year. Its about resolution so the answer isn't more magnification, its more aperture (and decent seeing obviously).

[MartinB]

Andrew - your collimation is spot on isn't it? Nothing messes up fine detail like skewed optics. In good seeing Cassini should be visible with 80mm and upwards. Seeing would have to be especially poor not to see Cassini with an 8" reflector.

Kain - it could have been Encke you saw. I've think I've seen it once but very very fine and subtle - might have been my imagination but I don't think so. There is a lot of debate about the aperture of scope required since it is a very narrow band subtending an angle of around 2 arc seconds. Theoretically you need a pretty large telescope to spot it. On the other hand it has very high contrast. You need good optics, pristine seeing and a good bit of time at the EP. I often can discern an outer band on on the disc outside Cassini but this is definitely not the same as Encke.

[Andrew*]

I think my collimation is pretty fair. It's just that the image is very small and bright, it's difficult to pick out detail. It's a bit disappointing...

Cassini is the division between the two areas of rings, just showing up in the top left of this image, is it not? :?

my thinking is that this image is much darker and bigger than how it looks in the scope, and that's why I can see it...

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Andrew

[Astroman]

I doubt very much you saw Enke visually with a 10". When the seeing "snaps in", even some very experienced observers mistake Cassini for Enke, (myself, included).

[John]

In good seeing Cassini should be visible with 80mm and upwards.

I have been seeing the Cassini division clearly with my ED80 this aparition - this evening for example it was quite clear at 100x and above. I live about 300 feet above sea level which might help with the seeing and there are a number of street lights around - but they impact DSO's much more than planets.

With a newtonian or cassegrain I think the state of collimation is important - if my C8 is a bit out of collimation the ED80 can resolve more detail on Saturn.

John