Saturn 20th march 2009

[mike bacanin]

Here's a sketch i made last night with the Tak FS 128 at x204 and x260

eyepieces used were pentax orthos.

clear cold conditions

seeing 2.5/3 out of 5

cassini visible in good moments.

mike

[barkis]

Great sketch Mike.

Lucky you, lotsa fog up here.

Could hardly see the street lights, although if the fog was

selective, that could be a good thing.

[Talitha]

Thanks Mike, your subtle shading of the bands and zones is exactly what I see in the eyepiece... very nicely done! And Kudos on seeing Cassini's Division. I tried a few times but the Jet Stream's been churning things up lately.

[mike bacanin]

Ron and Carol, thank you for your kind comments.

Seeing was very average really, i noticed a deterioration around midnight as a cold chill came in.

Having said that, the Tak was producing an impressive image for such average seeing, and was able to take x416 without really breaking down ( pentax 5mm XO barlowed). The image naturally became fainter at such power.

looking forward to steadier nights!

Mike

[Paul G. Abel]

That's a very nice sketch; a good representation of Saturn at the eyepiece. Are the polar regions shaded? I can't quite tell from the image.

[JAO]

Mike

Very nice sketch, I had similar views last night until the cloud stopped play :-(

Adrian

[Taff]

Great sketch with you Mike. only wish i could draw.Mark