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Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob
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However, even with a 100mm, Dione and Tethys are rather difficult and I will need to use a bigger scope to follow these more seriously.
From what I have seen though, these both look rather alike. Can they be told apart easily? I know each of Jupiter's moons by sight and would like to obtain the same skill with Saturn's Moons. If anybody can do this, please advise if the slight difference in brightness is the clue, or simply the moons distance from Saturn.
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I observed these tonight and correctly guessed which moon was Dione because it was more distant from Saturn than was Tethys. I used an 8" SCT with a 16mm Brandon EP. (I tried several others, but the Brandon seemed to show fainter objects- only by a fraction and this opinion is very subjective). I will follow these moons more often and hopefully with practice , I will not need to guess in future.
I looked for Encelanus and failed to see it, even after consulting a program displaying where it is. The near full Moon only about 6 degrees from Saturn certainly did not help, so I will try again when there is no Moon.