Saturn storm 16th Jan 2011

[chrisrnuttall]

Hello

Here are two drawings of Saturn from this morning.

Conditions were terrible, and any sane person would have stayed in bed, but I have got up early only to be thwarted by the weather for every presentation of this storm on Saturn's CM since I first (and last) observed it on 23rd December, so when I could see the odd star through the clouds I decided to have a go.

It was very windy and the sky was full of fast-moving broken cloud, but between telescope vibrations and clouds, I did get enough of a view to make these drawings.

In drawing 1 the NtrZ is pale and bright, its right hand half is brighter still - about the same brightness as ring B's outer edge. This is the main storm and is the source of the bright material spreading away to the left.

When I last observed this storm it was easily the brightest feature on the planet by a couple of points, but it was smaller and the NtrZ was still yellow around it. It has clearly spread out since.

In drawing 2, the 'tail' of bright material has set and the main bright area has crossed the CM, its following edge is quite well defined and the zone is yellowish following it.

Note, no detail was seen in the storm as conditions were too bad, in fact ring C could not be seen either.

[bish]

Excellent sketch, loads of detail. My drawing abilities aren't up to this anyway but I have annoying floaters in my eyes that obscure some of the finer details.

[DarkerSky]

Magnificent sketches and observations, Chris. Conditions were similar here and I chose not to go out. I think it's great how you've captured the evolution of this storm. The details you've picked up are quite something.

[dweller25]

Chris - your dedication has paid off with a brilliant series of drawings capturing the storm, well done.