Saturn Pre-Opp 2024!

[orion25]

Fortunately, a partly to mostly cloudy evening morphed into a night of pretty good seeing. So, what did I do? Capture some data on a brilliant rising pre-opposition Saturn (with an attendant Titan)! These images were taken using my 180mm Mak/ASI 224mc/Firecapture, processed in Registax. In the first image, I used Gaussian with gentler wavelets; in the second I used default settings with more aggressive wavelets:

 

 

Clear skies!

Reggie

 

[wookie1965]

Cloud and rain here fantastic captures.

 

[bosun21]

Nice capture Reggie. I prefer the top image. You have some banding showing with the better seeing which is nice to see. I sometimes use both forms of wavelets depending on the quality of my data. It's looking 50/50 for me here now with the Jetstream making an unwelcome appearance to boot. I think I'll be passing on the imaging but will probably pop my ED80 out for a short session. I thought you were undergoing some surgery soon by the title 😂.

Edited August 18 by bosun21

[orion25]

Thanks, Ian. I'll probably wait until opposition before I do any more imaging of Saturn. It will be interesting to view the Seeliger Effect on the rings at this angle. 

I knew the title would get a reaction, LOL! Hopefully, no upcoming operations for me 🙏

Regards, Reggie

[orion25]

11 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

Cloud and rain here fantastic captures.

 

Thanks, my friend. I hope things clear up for you, soon

[Kon]

Nice Reggie. I prefer the first one, as it is more natural. You may want to move to Astrosurface for wavelets and sharpening.

[orion25]

8 hours ago, Kon said:

Nice Reggie. I prefer the first one, as it is more natural. You may want to move to Astrosurface for wavelets and sharpening.

Thanks, my friend. I'll look into Astrosurface

[Planetary Observer]

Very nice, and I'm jealous. Here in the UK where I am, I've been thwarted at every attempt to see Saturn by cloud, wind, rain and poor seeing.

[orion25]

On 23/08/2024 at 07:20, Planetary Observer said:

Very nice, and I'm jealous. Here in the UK where I am, I've been thwarted at every attempt to see Saturn by cloud, wind, rain and poor seeing.

Thanks, my friend. Usually, for me, haze and humidity are big factors time of year. But some drier air came through and I took advantage of it!