Saturn and 6 moons

[oldfruit]

Set the alarm for 3.30 am today and hoped to get a look at Saturn and do some imaging.

I think no matter how long you have been into astronomy, you never tire of looking at this ringed beauty.

Seeing was not great this morning but i have had worse so i started with some visual observing. Using 150x i could make out 4 of the moons ( Rhea, Tethys, Titan and Dione) easily but this morning was a first for me as i could just make out Enceladus. Quite faint and off to the side of the rings but there none the less. Amazing when you think of the images that have been shown of this moon lately on tv and the net. I only realised it was Enceladus as i checked stellarium. After checking stellarium i realised that i could also see Ipetus if i shifted the field of view slightly

After about 40 mins of visual observing i decided to bring the laptop out and try some imaging. As you will know, Saturn is quite a bit fainter than Jupiter so took a min or 2 to get it on screen and had to up the gain a little just to see it.

I have read the thread with recommended settings of the spc900 for Jupiter but should the settings be different for Saturn?

Anyways, i made about 6 avi files and due to the fact that i am at work now i have yet to process them so wish me luck.

Will post resulting images later.

Mark.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. Great to spot 6 moons in one session. I find Saturn does require slightly different settings from Jupiter, but the overall aim is the same get as much as possible out of the 8 bit range of each colour channel, using (for a given frame rate) long exposure rather than high gain to fill the range. Looking forward to seeing the results.

[oldfruit]

Well just nipped home for a sarnie and did a quick process of one of my avi`s from this morning. 45 sec 15 fps.

Looking at this it looks like my focus is a little off?

I`m happy to have got it and will spend more time focusing next time.

Any comments welcome.

Also attatched a quick Jupiter from last night.

Mark.

saturn 1.bmp

Capture 18_01_2011 19_15_14.bmp

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Both are somewhat underexposed, but if you boost contrast, you get more detail. I think you have the GRS and reappearance of the SEB in the Jupiter shot. A bit more aggressive of the wavelet processing can also help.

The focus on the Saturn does seem a bit off, but it is very difficult.

[cgarry]

I like them both. They both really need a bit of histogram stretching, but lots of detail there to my eye.

Cheers,

Chris

[oldfruit]

Thanks for the comments. I clearly have a way to go yet before i get decent results but appreciate your advice. Thanks.

[oldfruit]

Am at work now but managed to have a tinker with the Saturn image. Nothing spectacular but here`s the results.

sat 2.bmp

[perrin6]

Well done for spotting Enceledus. I thought I glimpsed it once for a fraction of a second very close to the SW of the planet, where the rings join the disc, but conditions were just too unsteady for me to say definitely. I was grateful just to see the Cassini div. I think there may have been a slight obscuring mist that was lit up by moonlight.

[oldfruit]

Hi Alan. To be honest i was really pleased and suprised to see Enceladus because, a: it is approaching the limits of my scope and b: because it was quite close to the planet and rings but not lost in the glare.

Thanks

Mark.

[John]

Enceladus is a great spot in an 8". I found it once with a 12" and was pretty chuffed with myself - my next challenge is to find it with my 10" so you have given me hope !.

[oldfruit]

I would love to say i spotted it due to my observing skills.

Sadly this was not the case. I think it was a combination of it being well placed in relation to Saturn, plus the little better seeing conditions in the monings.

I observed Saturn a few times last year and never saw it once so i was chuffed this morning, even though i was up so early but i was worthwhile.