Saturn with STZ white spot!

[Nick Smith]

Hi all

This was the first time I had been out in ages what with the weather and work and work commitments. The conditions were not good, but it was clear(ish) so I had to have a go.

The final image is a bit soft and lacking in detail, but I am pleased as I managed to pick up the STZ white spot.

You can see the rotation of the spot over a 30 minute period in the green light images.

Regards

Nick

[beamish]

XLNT capture Nick !!

Karlo

[jgs001]

Well done Nick. Nice capture. What is the STZ white spot ? I managed to pick it out eventually, took some studying of the image.

[Sam]

Awesome image! - is the white spot a bit like the great red spot on Jupiter?

Sam

[dweller25]

Brilliant :hello1:

[steppenwolf]

Very nice capture indeed

[MartinB]

Another stunning Saturn Nick and the white spot is very clear

[Cloudwatcher]

Brilliant images and excellent presentation. 8)

Out of interest,any idea how far the spot travelled in that half hour period?

Cheers

CW

[Tim]

awesome pic Nick, simply awesome.

What software are you using for capturing? How long do you give each colour?

Cheers

TJ

[lunator]

Nick

great pic.

Fantastic catch of the spot.

Cheers

Ian

[barkis]

Super images as usual Nick,

Beautiful pastel shades,

I assume this is the White Spot that the comedian Will Hay first discovered years ago.

It is a fleeting thing I understand, comes and goes without any warning. Just like the big fellows Red Spot.

Ron.

[GazOC]

You know Ron, I'd forgotten about that!!! :shock:

[barkis]

Nah, I think you just had it buried deep down in the memory Gaz. it would have come to the fore if you had been asked the question directly.

When I first learned of that particular discovery, I was more surprised that Will Hay could possibly be an amateur astronomer. But, by all accounts, he was a very capable observer, and took his astronomy quite seriously, as we all do of course.

Ron.

[GazOC]

Cheers Ron. He was a funny bloke as well, his humour still comes across well today.

[Ferox]

Excellent images.

[Nick Smith]

Thanks for the comments guys

To answer a few questions from the thread. The white spot is a massive storm, similar to Jupiter's GRS. As Ron said, these spots appear on a fairly regular basis. In 2006 I remember a storm being so bright that I could see it on the Toucam preview with an 8" Newt. I don't know if this is the "same" spot observed by Will Hay in the 30s; I've looked at the drawings and that spot was in the EZ.

The software I use to run the camera is called Lucam recorder. I record AVIs of between 2000 and 2500 frames for each colour channel. I was running at 14 fps on this night, so each AVI was slightly under three minutes long. If you are going for a spot on Saturn, the AVIs have to be kept quite short as the planet rotates in less than 11 hours. On the two images presented above the spot had rotated 15 degrees in 30 minutes!

Regards

Nick

[barkis]

Thanks for the information Nick.

I can see a competition looming "Saturns White Spot Hunt"

Could be a good one, but might run for years.

Ron.

[Tim]

I take it that software is Lumenera specific?

Where did you get the camera btw, as it seems to be impossible to order one online?

Cheers

TJ

[WebSentinel]

Hi TJ,

You can get Lumenera CCDs from http://www.framos.de/www.dir/en/hersteller/index_en.html (select 'Lumenera' from under the 'Cameras' section and then select 'USB 2.0 Cameras' from the next section).

Unfortunately, in order to see the prices you need to 'login' which requires becoming a member (takes a few days). To save you the hassle, the camera Nick uses (Infinity 2-1M) costs: 1,412.66 euros (from the Framos website).

Damian Peach also uses 2 different Lumenera CCDs costing approx. between 500 and 700 euros.

I hope this helps?

[themos]

Good work, Nick, that's an inspiration for me, thanks.

[WebSentinel]

Hi Nick, that's a really great image of Saturn and capturing the white spot is really impressive! I've also visited your website and some of the lunar images are, well, stunning!

I've got a C11 and although, I don't plan on getting into imaging just yet, I wondered if you could explain some of the acronyms used in your photos for example 'diag.' and 'CM'. What do they mean and how do you go about obtaining that kind of information?

One thing is certain, if/when I do venture into imaging, yours and Damien Peachs' websites will be the first on my list for information and inspiration!

Steve

P.S. I have a request, I would love to see an 'Equipment' page on your website with lots of big pictures?! There's just not enough images of the wonderful C11 on the web!

[Nick Smith]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the comments about my web site. I am currently giving it a major overhaul in what spare time I have, starting with the Lunar gallery and then I will add some stuff on equipment and techniques.

The acronyms I use make sense to me! For instance "dia" refers to the apparent diameter of the planet in arc-seconds. CM refers to the longitude of the central meridian of the three atmospheric systems of Saturn at the time when the image was taken (system III is the important one these days). You can find out all this information using WinJUPOS, which you can download from here:

http://www.grischa-hahn.homepage.t-online.de/astro/winjupos/index.htm

You just have to input your location and the time and date.

Regards

Nick

[WebSentinel]

Fantastic, thanks Nick. I'll have a look at that link later tonight and I look forward to seeing the new format for your website soon along with any new images you capture! Keep up the good work, it's inspiring!

Cheers, Steve

[geoff_k]

Nick

Super images. If you ever tire of the C!!, don't hesitate to send it down to Somerset!

Geoff