Saturn - what can you really expect?

[Dom_01]

As a newbie i'm enjoying ticking off what i've seen so far. Moon (obviously), Jupiter, Mars, Saturn. Venus; i just couldn't get my scope to point low enough... probably down to lack of experience.

Saturn, i was amazed to see it, but disappointed in comparison after seeing Jupiter. Although i could make out the planet it was very blurred. I have a SW 200p, using the standard 10mm, 25mm E/Psand 2x Barlow. I've recently purchased a new focuser (now standard on the same scope, i believe) and some Baader Hyperion E/Ps

When i get a chance, i look forward to using my new equipment, but should i expect to see much of a difference? Or do you need a serious set up to enjoy Saturn?

[Ags]

You have a serious setup! :-)

I find Saturn is a less demanding target than Jupiter as its detail is high-contrast - ring shadows, cassini division... You just need good seeing and perfect focus. I'm sure a quality EP will help a lot in comparison to the standard SW 10mm.

You should be able to pick up a bit of banding on the planet surface and 5 or so moons.

[Marki]

Not had much luck with Saturn myself - generally get an elongated blur. I put that down to my lack of experience...I rarely have the patience (or cold endurance) to stay outside long enough for my 'scope to cool down enough (I don't have a private garden or enclosed backyard, so daren't leave the scope outside unattended!).

Maybe I could combine my eps and barlows better too - still learning.

Going to try again later tonight though... . Hope to actually resolve the rings with any luck :-).

Ever the optimist... .

[stevetynant]

Mark sounds like a trip to a dark sky site is in needed - wrap up, take a flask of coffee or two and enjoy the night sky in piece - clear skies

[Capricorn]

Best I have seen Saturn was through what I suspect was a Tal refractor at 120x. 8mm eyepiece I think.

What was good was the contrast and detail visible and not the size.

Would suggest that you do not try for outright magnification, the whole lot will lose definition and reduce what you see.

Collimate the scope and get a decent eyepiece to give something around 120-150x. Something like an 8mm BST should do it.

By the way Saturn is smaller then Jupiter and is further away so you should not really expect the same detail to be visible.

[Dom_01]

I don't mind the cold, but i've yet to experience one of these 'dark sky' sites. I live in SW London, which is terrible lol. So i keep my kit at my parents' house in Cambridge, and visit at weekends when the weather looks good. Still not brilliant.

I need to find a Dark Sky session to attend, but it's difficult for me to transport my kit.

[Marki]

I think you are right Steve - trying to pursuade Mrs Marki that a dark skies site holiday is just what she needs!

Not tried for Saturn with the TAL yet - only got it yesterday, so will try as you suggest, Capricorn. I'll use the 25mm that came with the refractor, plus a TAL 3x barlow - that'll get me to 120x mag (I think?).

[patomlin76]

Sounds like better EPs will help.

With a 70mm refractor I saw quite clear and crisp Saturn with the ring. Mind you, it was about 4mm across.

However I believe the EPs supplied with Meade are superior to the Skywatchers ones (I have just upgraded the 10mm one). Also a poor Barlow won't help matters.

I am looking forward to seeing Saturn again, with a larger aperture and longer focal length...

[John]

I had the best views I've ever had of Saturn with a Celestron 8" SCT - like Marki has. Far from an enlongated blur the planet was really well resolved and looked very similar to the picture below although the scale of the planet was smaller. The eyepiece was an 8mm Tele Vue plossl which gave 250x and I was viewing from my back garden. The seeing conditions were excellent.

I've come close to this with an 8" Skywatcher dobsonian and a 6" refractor since then. Saturn "takes" magnification rather better than Jupiter does but, as ever, the scope needs to be well cooled and in good collimation, and the seeing conditions favourable to allow the subtle details to be revealed. Also you need to spend time at the eyepiece to allow your eye to "train" itself to pick the fine details out in the short periods of really good seeing:

[jasonp]

I've had very good views of Saturn with my 200p. Infact just as good as much more expensive scopes.

At the time I used a borrowed hyperion and it was brilliant. I now have a 13mm Hyperion which is great but you do get astigmatism round the edges, not an issue for planets though.

Your scope is a great one enjoy it

[Marki]

Wow - that's a lovely image! Makes me determined to get out there and try again. Thanks John!

I can see I need a little more investment in better eps, but I also appreciate the point about "training" your eyes - this is something I'm beginning to feel for myself after a few weeks of work (been practising with my bins before I bought my 'scopes). Cheers for the advice all (with apologies to Dom for hi-jacking the thread!)

[Dom_01]

Very nice photo John... if i got something similar to that i would be very happy

Now i wish i'd gone up to Cambridge, the skies look good! lol If only every time you got an itching you could pop outside and not have to worry about the weather. :-)

I'm glad i'm getting some good feedback on the new hyperions; I personally got the 13mm and 5mm. I know the 13mm gets some bad feedback, but i'm still at the 'wow' phase

[John]

Wow - that's a lovely image! Makes me determined to get out there and try again. Thanks John!

I ought to say that I did not take this image - it is one that I found on the net which showed the sort of detail that I could see visually on Saturn on that occasion. The planet actually looked smaller than the picture in the eyepiece (as it invariably does) and the viewing conditions on that evening were extremely good.

[Ags]

Ha ha, that is what Saturn looks like most nights in my mak, seriously. Only the cassini division is tricky to spot with my scope (at 102mm its resolution might be somewhat too low).

[Dom_01]

Cheers for the advice all (with apologies to Dom for hi-jacking the thread!)

Not at all, there's so much to learn! I'm culpable of jumping topic all the time. If you don't get excited in having a hobby, and want to learn more, is it worth having?

As a terrible example, i saw the Great Nebula in Orion on my last session. But it looked like a slightly grey area. No colour?... Filters?

[John]

As a terrible example, i saw the Great Nebula in Orion on my last session. But it looked like a slightly grey area. No colour?... Filters?

Was the Moon in the sky ? - that would explain it. Any light in the sky, whether man-made or moonlight, washes out even bright deep sky objects like M42 (the Orion Nebula).

On a dark night it should be quite extensive in your scope - use a low power eyepiece to see it's full extent and how it sits within the context of the stars in the sword of Orion area.

UHC and O-III filters do help increase the contrast with nebulae to some extent but M42 really needs no filter enhancement with an 8" scope in my opinion.

[Dom_01]

Was the Moon in the sky ? -

Yes it was. Very bright!

I've purchased the 'Baader Neodymium Filter' which i am hoping will do good things

Thanks John.

[gooseholla]

The first time I saw Saturn I was blown away. It is an awesome sight in a good scope and eyepiece combo. **** eyepieces can make it a blur - I have experienced this before. But you can expect a stunning, contrasty world with a moon system and rings which are wonderful.

[Tribal-Wolf]

I saw Saturn back in the 80s through a 60mm refractor, a Prinz Astral 500 it was, and it looked impressive and easy to make out. I have since seen it through my bins but only the once using a home made tripod thingy. I get my scope tomorrow so I'm looking forward to finding it all over again.

[John]

Yes it was. Very bright!

I've purchased the 'Baader Neodymium Filter' which i am hoping will do good things

Thanks John.

Deep sky objects look much, much better when there is no moon about. When the moon is in the sky stick to observing it, the planets and binary stars which are less affected.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

I was going to try for Saturn tonight, but i believe i'l wait a few days till my 8mm BST arrives.

[faulksy]

still havnt seen saturn in my new scope cant wait, this is what im realy waiting for bring it on

[Grotemobile]

I managed to take this ,this morning about 0600 using a modded

mono toUcam, with a 3x barlow & a 102mm f10 refactor.Not to

bad for all second hand gear.You should be able to get something like this.

Steve

Saturn 11_02_2012 06_34_59.tif

[Caldwell 14]

Best I have seen Saturn was through what I suspect was a Tal refractor at 120x. 8mm eyepiece I think.

Thats what what I used around 1 am this morning, very pleaseing!

It should be pointed out that Saturn is not only a fair bit small than Jupiter it is also much further away so you are never going to see a large image.

[Trickystar1]

Depends how fast your scope is, a filter might bring out some finer detail.