Fading in and out

[Sconesbie]

Good afternoon everyone.

Equipment: 10" Collapsible Dob
Conditions: Clear sky with dew settling later
Eyepiece: 10mm

Problem: Saturn fading in and out

Query: For the very first time, I had used a filter to look at Saturn. I was like a kid in a lolly shop as even though I had seen Saturn a number of times before, this was the first time EVER I have seen the division in the rings.

My question is that as Saturn was going through my eyepiece, it was clear then blurry, then clear then blurry. All in a matter of seconds.

If it is a collimation issue, wouldn't it be blurry all the time? Why would this happen?

[Tinderboxsky]

Scott, my guess is your 10mm eyepiece was giving you 125X magnification ( 10" f5 DOB) and at this magnification you were experiencing short and regular fluctuations in the quality of the "seeing" conditions. This will have been caused by atmospheric disturbances within your line of sight to Saturn.
As you say, nothing to do with collimation.
When this happens to me I observe patiently for while to gather up all the information the clear moments provide. Also, it is often worthwhile breaking off from your target for a while. Try revisiting in an hour or so, especially if your target, such as Saturn, is then higher in the sky. The seeing might hopefully be better by then.