Best time of night to view saturn?

[Jnook86]

Ok, so ive been trying to view saturn in my new scope 4 a month now, with no luck until friday night...what i had been trying to do was, view it as it rises in the east, above the treeline around 11:30pm. Well after having no luck i tried viewing it later in the night, i went outside friday night around three thirty in the morning and viewed it as it was high in the south west sky, and BAM, seen it perfectly!..first viewing ever by the way.. so my question is this, is saturn less visible in early in the eastern sky? and more visible late in the south western sky?...sorry if i sound foolish by the way, im a certified noob here, haha.

[cspindley]

Same as me I viewed Saturn at about 3.30 am and was most clear nice and high

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[ollypenrice]

Cetainly at our observatories the 'seeing' - the stability of the air - is best in the small hours when the land has given up its heat and the air temperature in the atmosphere has stabilized.

You look through less atmosphere as you look directlu up at the zenith, too. So the perfect time is when the planet is high in the small hours of the morning.

You don't need a perfectly transparent sky for the planets. A bit of thin haze often goes with very stable air.

Olly

[Jnook86]

Same as me I viewed Saturn at about 3.30 am and was most clear nice and high

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WOW!...now that is spectacular!..i could only dream of seeing it with that much clarity!..it looked just like that when i seen it....just about 1/10th the size, hahaha

[Jnook86]

Cetainly at our observatories the 'seeing' - the stability of the air - is best in the small hours when the land has given up its heat and the air temperature in the atmosphere has stabilized.

You look through less atmosphere as you look directlu up at the zenith, too. So the perfect time is when the planet is high in the small hours of the morning.

You don't need a perfectly transparent sky for the planets. A bit of thin haze often goes with very stable air.

Olly

Gotcha...so i take from this......3:30am> viewing>>>>>>>>>11:30pm viewing?

[Venus_is_my_friend]

The best conditions for most things are:-

Cloudless nights.

No moisture in the air (it is best if it has been raining though the day and is a cloudless night)

When they are due south (some things due north)

Darkest skies, with no light pollution.

Higher up in the sky because you are looking through less atmosphere.

These are the best conditions, however as previously mentioned a little haze or moisture won't ruin the view of the planets.

You can also improve your view of the planets or tease more detail out with filters.

I try to catch things when they are due south (or north) as they are at their highest, but sometimes it is purely the luck of the moment.

Neil