Saw Saturn for the first time!

[SweetLeaf]

So tonight, I finally decided I'd go and give Saturn a gaze. I definitely learned a valuable lesson tonight. After trying to view it on a higher-powered eyepiece I switched to a 25mm and it was definitely a lot easier to view Saturn.

It was still kind of hard to see though, even when using the eyepiece with a 2x barlow, but I'm pretty sure I was able to make out the rings.

Any tips for better observing of Saturn? There was a decent amount of light in the area that I was viewing from and I assume this had an effect on how well I was able to see it.

[richbyers]

what scope do you have?

i was viewing it last night and the condidtions were Rubbish.

maybe try a higher magnification eye peice without the barlow as it will degrade the contrast/ quality

rich

[SweetLeaf]

I've got the Celestron NexStar 114SLT

[Llamanaut]

I saw saturn for the first time on 21st April through my old astral 400 60mm refractor... used a 20mm plossl to find and centre it then switched to 10mm for the close up... quite small but unmistakable, rings were edge on but looked brill... i was buzzing all night, its true what they say the first time is always special!

[RichieJarvis]

Way to go!

Its easier with a larger eyepiece size and a barlow, as the hole you are looking through is bigger.

You should be able to see the rings without any problems - they will appear edge-on at the moment, although they are gradually opening up again as the months move on.

If thats what you are seeing, cool - keep watching it over the next few months.

You might need to collimate your scope though - best thing to do is ask an expert to have a look through your scope - where are you based?

Cheers,

Richie

[SweetLeaf]

Way to go!

Its easier with a larger eyepiece size and a barlow, as the hole you are looking through is bigger.

You should be able to see the rings without any problems - they will appear edge-on at the moment, although they are gradually opening up again as the months move on.

If thats what you are seeing, cool - keep watching it over the next few months.

You might need to collimate your scope though - best thing to do is ask an expert to have a look through your scope - where are you based?

Cheers,

Richie

I'm from good old Canada, eh. Toronto to be precise.

I figured the rings were edge-on because I was able to see them on the outsides of the planet faintly, and then there was what looked a dark line connecting them through the planet so I figured that was the shadow of them.

I used the quick alignment feature on the telescope and then chose Saturn and it lined it up directly in the eyepiece, so I am really thinking it was my first viewing!