Cassini's Farewell, HELP- I'm Looking for a One Metre Telescope.
*** A CALL OUT TO AUSSIES WITH ACCESS TO A ONE METRE TELESCOPE WITH PLANETARY IMAGING ***
On 15th September 2017, we will sadly bid farewell to the Cassini Mission ending with the spacecraft being hurled into Saturn's atmosphere. Australia has front row seating for this event. The attached simulation shows the view of Earth from Saturn at the time of Cassini's entry. There's a chance that telescopes of one metre aperture may catch the fireball.
Exmouth in W.A. has excellent opportunity as Saturn will be 53 degrees above the horizon. But - correct if I'm wrong - the biggest scope I can find in W.A. with planetary imaging is 30" .
I'm having a hard time trying to find a one metre scope anywhere in Australia (there is one private one at i-telescope.net at Siding Spring that I'm pursuing), so if you can help, it'd be much appreciated and we can enjoy some pics.
Time of event due: 10pm AEST / 12 UT.
I will be aiming my 10" dob at Saturn at the time to say goodbye and well... can't hurt to try and catch something, I might get lucky .
The reason for one metre, is because fireballs have been observed on Jupiter with amateur telescopes, however Saturn is further away and the spacecraft burning up is smaller, so it's approximated at being two magnitudes dimmer than fireballs seen on Jupiter.
Imaging it might be easier. Anyone who has done planetary imaging on Saturn should be able to catch it in a high frame rate video with the right focal length and conditions. Note the time is now showing as 9:54pm AEST, so looking at 10pm maybe too late as its not going to last long. Keep updated on possible time changes in the week to come.
Imaging it might be easier. Anyone who has done planetary imaging on Saturn should be able to catch it in a high frame rate video with the right focal length and conditions. Note the time is now showing as 9:54pm AEST, so looking at 10pm maybe too late as its not going to last long. Keep updated on possible time changes in the week to come.
True. The latest update to the time is now 9:55pm AEST.
Here's a timeline thanks to @CanberraDSN via Glen Nagle on twitter which has been edited with Australian times from the original infographic from NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Everyone is welcome to join our IceInSpace event page on facebook (I created it today) and keep up-todate with all the news, latest updates and links on Cassini's Grand Finale: http://bit.ly/2wY4akF
I've read that the HST has been booked but they're not sure if its orbit will allow observation yet.
Worth a try on amateur gear anyway!
It sure is worth a try isn't it Hugh .
Can't hurt and imagine if someone gets lucky .
If nothing else, we can look fondly at Saturn during the plunge and give a salute to a great mission, that's pretty special just on that count.
Graphic showing the relative altitudes of Cassini's final five passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere, compared to the depth it reaches upon loss of communication with Earth.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
What a fantastic mission it has been Suzy, I remember the launch and have followed the mission since then. It will be a sad time to realise on Saturday that Cassini is no more...
I will be watching Saturn tomorrow evening if these clouds allow it......
Ten months ago I was lucky to attend the Cassini presentation at the Australian National University by Dr Linda Spilker and Dr Earl Maize
Hi Matt ,
I can't help thinking what Carolyn Porco will be going through, both excitement and tears no doubt.
I can't wait for the release of "In Saturn's Rings" on IMAX which will cover the end of the mission in the movie. The teaser is mind blowing, it gives me chills; if you can view on a big TV, do so! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANuCH-_olaw
are these times adjusted for the length of time the light takes to reach us? i would presume so but just checking.
but what a mission, up there with the Voyagers. going to miss those amazing photos.
Will be looking and imaging as per guidance with my small scope and methane filter in the faint hope of a catch. Totally don't expect to see a thing, but will salute the end of a wonderful mission. I'll miss the Cassini images!
Great project, good luck with it!
And the mission, what a ride it has been.
Wikipedia entry for Cassini is already in past tense
Oh well, Huygens is still out there sitting on Titan's surface.
Edit: Isn't there a guy by the name of Barry in WA who's got huge dobs?
Will be looking and imaging as per guidance with my small scope and methane filter in the faint hope of a catch. Totally don't expect to see a thing, but will salute the end of a wonderful mission. I'll miss the Cassini images!
Will get my C11 out too and take a shot of Saturn at the time. Even if you can't see it, it's gotta be somewhere in one of the blurry pixels
Great project, good luck with it!
And the mission, what a ride it has been.
Wikipedia entry for Cassini is already in past tense
Oh well, Huygens is still out there sitting on Titan's surface.
Edit: Isn't there a guy by the name of Barry in WA who's got huge dobs?
No way, that's horrible killing it off early
I think large scopes need to have planetary imaging to make anything out.
I've found a 30" up for the job so we'll how that goes, I can't give out much at the moment but stay tuned if there's success.
Boooo . I hear Hubble won't be looking during impact.
It will however, 10 mins afterwards by pointing its STIS instrument at Saturn. STIS combines a camera with a spectrograph, and covers a wide range of wavelengths from the near-infrared region into the ultraviolet. So I guess doing a study on the aftermath. I've no idea why it won't be looking just beforehand as well .
Here's some observing resources put together by my friend Padma Yanamandra-Fisher and Ralph Lorenz. Padma is a planetary scientist with Space Institute and does a lot of pro-am work and outreach efforts and I've been helping her out for years. So, if by any chance, anyone observes anything, would you pleeeeease message me and I will tell you where to send the information, thanks. I hope the pics come out large enough to read, if not, download and enlarge them?
And don't forget we have an Events section running over on our facebook page with lots of updates .
Ooops and nearly forgot to mention that I've been told Canberra DSN is keeping the dishes pointed and receiving for an extra 90 mins after LOS just in case there are any unexpected late signals .
Well the WSAAG crew were at Linden Observatory to see if Ralph's predictions could perhaps come to pass.
The seeing was marginal, even in the infrared. We used a 807nm IR pass filter on a TACOS Watec 910BD videocamera; the 750mm f/4.7 scope had a 3x barlow to increase image scale, but there were patches of relatively clear seeing interspersed with the marginal stuff.
There was no obvious bolide visible on the recording.
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and imagine if someone gets lucky 
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. I hear Hubble won't be looking during impact.
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