First View of Saturn

[Puffafish]

My telescope arrived on June the 4th, and the night's sky was clear! Only the other half decreed that I was busy, and so not able to give it a go...

But eventually I was granted permission, and a clear night and I managed to see Saturn! After a bit of trouble with the red dot finder (I haven't found an easy way to calibrate it yet) I managed to see Saturn and its rings and at least two moons (I believe Titan and Rhea - thank you Stellarium!).

Started with the 25mm lens (26x), and could see a yellow smudge with two "ears" (similar to what Gallilo described I believe?). Then I tried with the 10mm, which was harder to centre (due to the restriction of the FOV) but I found it again. Then barlowed up (2.25x Blaader) and I could see the rings, space between rings and planet and everything! But then I looked at the clock and remembered work the next day...

The planet was a big of a yellow smudge, but I could clearly see rings and space between rings and the planet!

(This was with a Skywatcher 130P on the EQ-2 mount, 650mm focal length with the stock eye pieces and a Bladder 2.25 barlow, in case anyone is interested).

[Astro Imp]

Well done on your first view of one of the best objects in the sky.

BTW to align your red dot finder, start by getting a star in the centre of your lowest power eyepiece (longest focal length) then use the highest magnification and get this centred and adjust the finder accordingly. If you have Polaris available this is a good star to use as it won't move while you adjust the finder.

Good luck.

[ronl]

Congrat's on your first view of Saturn, it's always the best planet to observe

on your first light, the stock eyepieces are not of the best quality, but they are

ok, maybe not the 10mm, but the 25mm will give you reasonable views, what

I am getting at is barlowing the 10mm won't give you a clear view, the barlow is

probably ok, but stick with just the 10mm, and tweek the focus until you get a clear

view, it's not how big you can make the planet it's the detail that counts, take your

time because the longer you view the better it gets, plus the seeing conditions need

to be reasonable as well, next time out with your scope give yourself a little longer and

get a feel for the focuser, this is what I have done, and it does help, but it takes time to

get use to your kit.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

[M4lcs67]

Well done. You never ever forget your first sight of it. Mine was 2 years ago through a friends 40 year old reflector. Was a little fuzzy, but was a memorable moment. Magnificent....

[AlexB67]

Congrats. I'll never forget my first Saturn moment either. I Can't get ever get sick of looking at that one

[faulksy]

congrats mate beautiful site, was viewing it last week at over 300x magnification and still very clear never viewed it at that power before, also were did you get the blaader from

[farunj]

Nobody ever forgets the first view of Saturn! It's simply stunning! Congrats on viewing Saturn for the first time!

[Stargazing Glaswegian Gaza]

Good stuff,

I got my first sighting of that planet last month or was it early this month not sure but when viewing with my 4mm on my 130 astromaster thats over 160^x and is amazing^.

When you get to view Jupiter over the winter months it will blow you away along with its 4 satellites and have you mesmerised till you view it again like Saturn. Happy Hunting! My first viewing of The Pleiades also got me spellbound even though it was through my binoculars as thats what got me into stargazing and had to get my first scope the next christmastime. So this winter I cant wate to view the Pleiades in my scope and the rest.

Regards,

Mr Gazza.

[Stargazing Glaswegian Gaza]

Good stuff,

I got my first sighting of that planet last month or was it early this month not sure but when viewing with my 4mm on my 130 astromaster thats over 160^x and is amazing^.

When you get to view Jupiter over the winter months it will blow you away along with its 4 satellites and have you mesmerised till you view it again like Saturn. Happy Hunting! My first viewing of The Pleiades also got me spellbound even though it was through my binoculars as thats what got me into stargazing and had to get my first scope the next christmastime. So this winter I cant wate to view the Pleiades in my scope and the rest.

Regards,

Mr Gazza.

When viewing Jupiter over a couple of hours in the same evening you can see it's moons alternate around it. Just amazing!

Regards,

Mr Gazza.

[Puffafish]

Thanks, it was fantastic! I've even started a astronomy log book now! (Just need to remember not to use red pens when writing in it... Just happened to be the first pen I picked up)

congrats mate beautiful site, was viewing it last week at over 300x magnification and still very clear never viewed it at that power before, also were did you get the blaader from

Thanks, Blaader was from FLO: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-q-225x-barlow.html (ordered it with the scope, but they managed to miss it off my delivery! Got it sorted a couple of days later though...)

[Puffafish]

When viewing Jupiter over a couple of hours in the same evening you can see it's moons alternate around it. Just amazing!

Regards,

Mr Gazza.

Ooo! That does sound good, I shall have to make a special effort to do that!