Saturn with CPC 1100

[beka]

Hi All,

For the last year or so I have been mostly measuring variable stars on my NexStar 102SLT. Now it being the end of the rainy season with some clear skys, I decided to take out the CPC 1100, and use the Celestron 8-24mm eyepiece on Saturn. The sky was not dark, about limiting magnitude 4 with very slight haze. Saturn was high up maybe 70 degrees or so. Zooming up to 8mm 350x magnification it was the best view I could remember. Despite the rings being nearly edge on I could see the Cassini Division at each end, and I probably had my clearest view of the C ring. The shadow of the rings on the surface of the planet was tack sharp. I took note of the positions of the moons before checking them on Stellarium, and verified that I could see Dione, Tethys, Rhea, Iapetus and of course Titan. Dione and Tethys were tiny pin pricks close to the rings on either side.  I believe the reason for the exceptional view was that the seeing was very steady. Rather than waiting for a few seconds of sharp views between periods of turbulence, I could just relax and enjoy it for extended periods. I condidered jacking up the magnification to 400x wth a 7mm eyepiece but decided that I didn't want to risk spoiling the memory if the image did not hold up 🙂. 

Cheers!