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Finally Saw Saturn with a scope

Manok101

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Manok101

Manok101

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I was just a little disappointed, it only looked like a pinhead sized dot, the rings were visible, I think two moons were as well, although I am not sure about that. I was wondering if it gets any bigger in the sky?

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oldfruit

oldfruit

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Hi, good for you on finding Saturn, you will need to use higher magnification if conditions allow to see Saturn bigger, but the disc does appear quite small. Saturn will be slightly bigger in the Spring when it is a opposition.

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bish

bish

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I saw Saturn as a kid through a 50mm scope. Although it only looked like a rugby ball shape I was still amazed. Years later when I first saw Saturn at a high mag (about x400) under excellent skies I was blown away.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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Hi Manok

When exactly (time) did you observe Saturn? What scope were you using? What magnification?.

Saturn in pretty much any scope over 70mm will NOT look like a pinpoint of light. Thats how stars should look.

I dont mean to be funny, but are you sure it was Saturn?

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malc-c

malc-c

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Not sure if it was because Saturn was closer or what, but this was the first astronomical object I trained a telescope on back in 1984. It was a Tasco 4.5" Newtonian, and even though it was fairly low in the south from my parents house, could make out the cassini division... I was hooked.... :icon_eek:

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Steep

Steep

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I first saw it through a 70mm refractor, it was a tiny white blob with a just discernible ring round it, blew me away.

I think many folk will feel 'cheated' having seen big crystal clear images on the telly. Jonathan Ross said as much about Jupiter on Stargazing Live the other night but what you have to keep in mind is that this is 'you' seeing it live for yourself, not some picture on the net or on tv.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Not sure if it was because Saturn was closer or what, but this was the first astronomical object I trained a telescope on back in 1984. It was a Tasco 4.5" Newtonian, and even though it was fairly low in the south from my parents house, could make out the cassini division... I was hooked.... :evil6:

Cassini division in a tasco 4.5" :icon_eek::eek::D

Manok try a 5mm this will give you 182 x magnification and should offer a much better view of Saturn depending on seeing conditions.

SPACEBOY

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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Hi Manok, with a focal length of 910mm and using the 17mm barlowed will give you a power of x165. That will be approaching the highest usefull magnification which would be around x200, I would have expected you to see more than you describe, are you definately sure it was Saturn? I would have checked on Stellarium if I was unsure of something I was viewing, just a thought. :icon_eek:

Alan

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The Bat

The Bat

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Hi Manok

A 910mm focal length and 17mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow will give you 107x (not 165x). Even so, my lowest power eyepiece gives me 63x and Saturn is most definitely Saturn - with rings - even at that power, not a pinhead (me, I was blown away the first time I saw it, and texted everyone from the garden I was so excited, and then sat looking at it for about an hour, not quite believing that something so beautiful could really exist up there). If it really was a pinhead sized dot at 100x, then it sounds like you were looking at a star. Is your finderscope aligned with your main telescope? If it's out, then you may have identified Saturn in the sky but been looking at something else through the scope.

Hope your next viewing is more impressive.

Rachel

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Adrian

Adrian

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I stayed up on Sunday to see it - through my 4.5" 900mm and 8mm (112x) it looked like Saturn; an obvious disc with the "ears" of the rings poking out. In the years since I last saw it I had forgotten how small it was... but perfectly formed :D

I couldn't make out the Cassini divide, but then I only bought a cheshire eyepiece on Tuesday ('bout time :icon_eek:) and confirmed my collimation had been out. Now I just need clear skies to check how it looks through a collimated scope

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Manok101

Manok101

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Well there were two potentials for Saturn and I could swear I saw black in front which I assumed to be the rings, and what I also saw seemed to extend out beyond what I was looking at, I will admit that I never did get a great focus. I could also see right on the right two smaller almost invisible dots which I took at the time to be moons. I live in the southern US.

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Jimmy Stix

Jimmy Stix

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Congrats on getting a look at saturn. I keep waking up in the early hours and checking whether it's worth going out for saturn.

So far, so rubbish! :icon_eek:

The pain of waiting is something I am having to learn fast. I have never looked up at the sky so much in my life before.

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