What a difference a year makes....

[eyepod]

Hi All, I haven't done any imaging in months thanks to the awful winter so i had a go at Saturn last night. Seeing still not good but better than the last few days. Hopefully tonight looks good. Warm ,calm and sunny here in kent...

Spot the difference in these two images one taken in May last year, almost to the day in excellent seeing and with Saturn a little higher than it is now. And the other last night low down in the murk.

Saturn really is a challenge this year... Good luck to all who are trying

Both taken with SPC900 4000-4500 frames using about 700, SW 200p Auto Dob stacked in AS!2 and Reg6

regards

Jason

[ixs74]

Very nice ! How can we know actual distance between saturn & the earth ? I know min and max distance but not actual ... I maybe should use redshift software to find the answer ! :-)

[Superdavo]

Its interesting to see the difference in the angle of the rings over just 1 year

[todd8137]

Nice. Great images

pat

[Space Cowboy]

Good to see you back Jason. Those 2012 shots look so sharp and clean compared to this years images even though they were only 30 degrees. Its very tough going thats for sure.

[ixs74]

So, i found the answer with "redshift" ...

Saturn is now 1 320 500 407 km away ... 8.826 A.U.

Saturn was at its closest a few days ago (29 April) and now moves away ...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice images, and a very nice comparison

[JamesF]

So, i found the answer with "redshift" ...

Saturn is now 1 320 500 407 km away ... 8.826 A.U.

Saturn was at its closest a few days ago (29 April) and now moves away ...

I just started Stellarium and located Saturn to get the same information

That distance means the light you see when you're looking at Saturn has been travelling just over two and a half hours from the Sun. That's a fair time

James

[Ewan]

Yep what a difference a year makes, nice shots there well done.

[Gilez]

Nice pictures. I too noticed straight away the difference in the angle of the rings in the two shots. I wonder what next year may bring?

[JamesF]

Nice pictures. I too noticed straight away the difference in the angle of the rings in the two shots. I wonder what next year may bring?

The rings will keep opening up for a few years yet. I looked this up for a post the other day. From memory they're at about 18 degrees to us at the moment. At the end of 2017 they reach a maximum of about 27 degrees. Unfortunately whilst Saturn is currently difficult to image at a declination of about -11 degrees, or a maximum of about 29 degrees above the horizon for my location in the UK, by the end of 2017 Saturn will be at a declination of about -22 degrees and therefore barely make 18 degrees above the horizon at my location. So, as the rings become more open the harder it will be to image from the UK.

James

[Kokatha man]

Still pretty good Jason.....and last year's image at not much more elevation was a real "good 'un!"

[Gilez]

JamesF - thanks for the info.

I read about the angle of Saturn in Turn Left at Orion, but don't recall seeing how high it will be above the horizon. Hopefully it will still be visible but doesn't sound good.