|
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.
|