Proper Orientation Of Planets

[Sky King]

In looking through all the wonderful images people here have taken, I often wonder what the correct orientation of a planet is.

For example...lately I've seen pictures of Saturn with the colored bands located at the top of the planet while others have shown them to be on the bottom of the planet...which is correct ?

Does orientation depend on the type of telescope used ?

Thanks in advance.

[Alien 13]

There is no up or down in space so they are all correct however i tend to process images as they would be seen by the eyeball others show them as they appear through a scope (usually upside down) i do think the moon looks odd though if not shown the correct way up.

Alan

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm with Alan. I prefer to observe everything the way the naked would see them, be it the Moon,planets,galaxies,stars,asterism,clusters or nebulae.

One of the scopes i bought new for 100 squids came with a 90 degree erect prism *star diagonal*, and i use it on my most expensive scope (2000 squids) also. 

You are right, different scope makes do change the orientation of objects (cant think of them right now). My mind is a mush due to the humidity here right now.

[Sky King]

Thanks Alan that answers my question. Telescopes do image upside down.

Like you, I prefer my images to show as they would to the naked eye....flipped from the telescoped image.

[ronin]

It is not only the type of scope, a refractor that is straight through onto a camera will invert up/down and left/right, whereas with a diagional the up/down is reinverted, so that ends up "normal" but the left/right inversion remains.

In a reflector the angle of the scope and the placemant of the focuser add to what they produce.

I suppose that ultimately the choice is leave it as it was produced on the camera or rotate to what the true orientation. However I doubt that when most people look at a planet through a scope it is "correct".

[AndyWB]

Also, come to that, it depends on the type of mount used. "Up" and "down" won't vary for an aligned equatorial mount, but for an Altitude-azimuth mount, if you track an object across the sky from when it rises to when it sets, it will appear to rotate. This is called field rotation. There's a pretty graphic example of this here: http://www.astronomyasylum.com/telescopemountstutorial.html

Of course, this is why imagers use Equatorial mounts - but it's worth being aware of if doing visual astronomy.

[Davey-T]

" Right way up " depends which hemisphere you're in.

Dave

[ollypenrice]

" Right way up " depends which hemisphere you're in.

Dave

If you can't decide, go to Ecuador...

Olly

[LukeSkywatcher]

If you can't decide, go to Ecuador...

Olly

There be snakes and big spiders and all sorts there. Think i'll stick to North West Europe. Angry fox's and hedgehogs are so much easier to deal with.

[AndyWB]

If you can't decide, go to Ecuador...

Olly

Nice high volcanoes to observe from, though seismic activity could rule it out for astrophotography. Also avoid the smog around Quito. Oh, and volcanic ash.

[Gomtuu]

I normally rotate (in post-processing) both Mars and Jupiter so that the north pole is near the top. I usually leave a slight angle vertically, as I find it more aesthetically pleasing!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_of_astronomical_bodies

I have yet to get round to Saturn, Venus etc.