Saturn Opposition 2024!

[orion25]

Saturday night was a bust but Sunday night was absolutely beautiful! You can really see(liger) the Seeliger Effect in the first image. The second is Saturn from two weeks ago for contrast. I also included my opposition and pre-opposition shots from last year:

All images taken with the Orion Skyview 180 Pro Mak-Cass and the ASI224mc using Firecapture, processed with Registax 6 (I'm still learning AstroSurface!)

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone is able to enjoy viewing this year's opposition! 😊

Reggie

[seven_legs]

I have the skymax 180 pro and yet to use it yet due to weather and work.

Cannot wait to use it.

Nice shot by the way 

[Kon]

Good catch Reggie.  The Seeliger effect is nicely showing too. We have been under constant cloud and rain so I missed opposition in the UK. I might get a break through the clouds later in the week.

[geoflewis]

Nicely capture Reggie, the Seeliger effect is very obvious. Other than a failed attempt at the lunar occultation of Saturn last month, I haven't used my gear since 1 April, partly due to health issue, partly weather related (it's been an awful few months) and partly loss of enthusiasm to get out there, but am hoping to have a try at Saturn in the next few days, whilst it is still close to opposition.

[Graeme]

Fine Opposition images Reggie

I set up with my OSC camera in the 9.25 SCT last night. I'm going for it with a x 2 Barlow added tonight. Wish I had started planning last week, too late for Seeliger effect now!

Graeme

[bosun21]

Nice capture Reggie. Good to see you got a break with the clouds. I had never heard of the Seeliger effect up until now. I'll need to do a bit of reading.

[NenoVento]

I didn't know about this effect either, now I wish  I had waited a bit longer that night at least to see It (If I am not mistaken, Saturn's opposition happened around 04:00 am local time, that is, two hours after that day's transit, so already a bit low for capturing from my place, which is at sea level.)

Edited September 10 by NenoVento

[orion25]

The Seeliger effect is a phenomenon that causes the rings of Saturn to appear brighter than the planet itself when Saturn is in opposition to the sun. The effect is named after German astronomer Hugo von Seeliger (1849–1924), who first observed it in 1887.

[orion25]

13 hours ago, Graeme said:

Fine Opposition images Reggie

I set up with my OSC camera in the 9.25 SCT last night. I'm going for it with a x 2 Barlow added tonight. Wish I had started planning last week, too late for Seeliger effect now!

Graeme

Thanks, Graeme. The Seeliger effect, also known as the opposition surge, is visible for a couple of days around Saturn's opposition. 

Edited September 11 by orion25

[orion25]

17 hours ago, seven_legs said:

I have the skymax 180 pro and yet to use it yet due to weather and work.

Cannot wait to use it.

Nice shot by the way 

Thanks, my friend. Please, put that 180 pro to work, lol! It's a great scope and a real planet killer

[orion25]

16 hours ago, Kon said:

Good catch Reggie.  The Seeliger effect is nicely showing too. We have been under constant cloud and rain so I missed opposition in the UK. I might get a break through the clouds later in the week.

Thanks, Kostas. Saturn should still be beaming from opposition this week!

[orion25]

15 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Nicely capture Reggie, the Seeliger effect is very obvious. Other than a failed attempt at the lunar occultation of Saturn last month, I haven't used my gear since 1 April, partly due to health issue, partly weather related (it's been an awful few months) and partly loss of enthusiasm to get out there, but am hoping to have a try at Saturn in the next few days, whilst it is still close to opposition.

Thanks, Geof. I hope you're recuperating well. Saturn is looking great; I hope you get a chance to get back out there real soon

[Sunshine]

Fantastic! I had a Mak 150, was my main planet sureshot, those Mak’s make short work of planets and with their long FL’s they are great for imaging them.

[orion25]

9 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Nice capture Reggie. Good to see you got a break with the clouds. I had never heard of the Seeliger effect up until now. I'll need to do a bit of reading.

Thanks, my friend. The rings brighten beautifully during this time due to direct sunlight on the dust particles and muting of shadows. It's quite electric! 🤩

[orion25]

3 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Fantastic! I had a Mak 150, was my main planet sureshot, those Mak’s make short work of planets and with their long FL’s they are great for imaging them.

You are soooo right, Sunshine! Those Maks wield a mighty blow to the planets. I have a 127mm Mak as well that's my grab-and-go planetary weapon, lol  

[orion25]

4 hours ago, NenoVento said:

I didn't know about this effect either, now I wish  I had waited a bit longer that night at least to see It (If I am not mistaken, Saturn's opposition happened around 04:00 am local time, that is, two hours after that day's transit, so already a bit low for capturing from my place, which is at sea level.)

It's a notable effect on the rings due to direct sunlight on the dust particles, causing the rings to brighten beautifully. The maximum effect, of course, is on the night of opposition but is noticeable a couple of days before and after.

[morimarty]

Well done Reggie that's a superb capture and processed image.

[orion25]

58 minutes ago, morimarty said:

Well done Reggie that's a superb capture and processed image.

Thanks, Martyn. Did you get a chance to see the opposition?

[morimarty]

I didn't Reggie I was clouded out as I think most of the UK was. Thursday is looking promising Though Fingers Crossed.

[orion25]

10 hours ago, morimarty said:

I didn't Reggie I was clouded out as I think most of the UK was. Thursday is looking promising Though Fingers Crossed.

I hope Thursday works out

[siatnite]

Well done Reggie clouded out here too im afraid.

[orion25]

13 hours ago, siatnite said:

Well done Reggie clouded out here too im afraid.

Thanks. It seems like most of the UK is dealing with challenging seeing conditions at the moment.

[orion25]

I'm still learning AstroSurface (thanks for the suggestion @Kon) so this is a test using the same data from September 9. I included the original Registax 6-processed image for comparison.

AstroSurface image:

 

Registax 6 image:

The AstroSurface image seems smoother and less noisy. The Registax image seems a bit bolder and little brighter.

Thoughts?

[Kon]

Good job with Astrosurface. You can see that you are pulling the Cassini division much easier with it. I like the new version better and less noisy.

[orion25]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

Good job with Astrosurface. You can see that you are pulling the Cassini division much easier with it. I like the new version better and less noisy.

Thanks, Kostas. You and @geoflewis are my gurus! I'm having fun with AstroSurface, starting to get a feel for it.