*** 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.
Extensive info in this link:
https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1708/1708.05036.pdf
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"
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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
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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.
I've put a call out on our fb page, it'd be great if you can share to get the word out
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https://www.facebook.com/iceinspace/...type=3&theater
If anyone catches anything, please, please share your images here!