2013 and 2014 for planetary imaging?

[Sammyb]

Hello all,

I was just thinking about whats in store for planetary imaging and observing in 2013 and 2014.

Jupiter looks like it will give another good show in 2013 but apart from that it looks a little disappointing. Saturn won't get high in the sky again for another good few years and Mars won't be in a good position again until 2014.

What are planetary imagers looking forward to?

Sam

[bus_ter]

Venus will be the Christmas East star again next December..

But otherwise I'm looking forward to Saturn.

[Rihard]

Hello all,

I was just thinking about whats in store for planetary imaging and observing in 2013 and 2014.

Jupiter looks like it will give another good show in 2013 but apart from that it looks a little disappointing. Saturn won't get high in the sky again for another good few years and Mars won't be in a good position again until 2014.

What are planetary imagers looking forward to?

Sam

I read somewhere here in the forum that Saturn should be in a good position around March maybe (can't remember the exact date though) and then it will go pretty low for about 10 years.

[Space Cowboy]

2013 is the last chance to get a half decent view of Saturn at 25 degrees which is going to be tough but possible under good seeing. For the next 10 yrs Saturn will be skimming between 15 and 20 degrees which makes imaging anything other than a blurry picture almost impossible. Mars wont be much better either apart from next year and Venus is down in the grass this year.

Thankfully Jupiter will be good for another couple of years though getting smaller.

I can see myself moving over into DSO imaging in the near future.

[Rihard]

2013 is the last chance to get a half decent view of Saturn at 25 degrees which is going to be tough but possible under good seeing. For the next 10 yrs Saturn will be skimming between 15 and 20 degrees which makes imaging anything other than a blurry picture almost impossible. Mars wont be much better either apart from next year and Venus is down in the grass this year.

Thankfully Jupiter will be good for another couple of years though getting smaller.

I can see myself moving over into DSO imaging in the near future.

Useful details Space Cowboy.

DSO's will be a valid alternative indeed (if I will ever have a chance to setup my telescope outside and learn how to polar align, one day ).

I was reading that Saturn will also look slightly smaller as the distance from Earth will be increasing. However, the rings will tilt further giving a better chance of seeing the Cassini division.

Is it correct that from the mediterranean Island of Sardinia, the views of Saturn in 2013 will be much better then in ROI and UK ?? I mean, the closer you go to the equator, the higher Saturn should appear in the sky or am I totally confused? How about Venus, Mars and the other less appreciable planets (such as Mercury and the Gas-Ice Giants? )

I ask as I have a house in a small (very small!) town in the Island's dark countryside, where small kids love to vandalise public lights in order to see the milky way and the "UFO's" (satellite passes), and the skies are usually very clear with very good or excellent seeing, virtually 100 % of the summer nights. So I would be happy to buy a portable setup (small Mak) that I could bring to Sardinia during the summer to take some shots of that awesome jewel of a planet called Saturn

At this stage, you might not need to move to DSO anymore: you just need to find an alternative island

[Radec]

There's always the moon.......

[Rihard]

There's always the moon.......

And also, clouds willing, the beloved Star of ours, the Sun

[KE400]

Solar and the moon are fantastic targets. The sun is coming up to a very active period so well worth a venture as there's allsorts of action going on up there