Thanks Ray
Not old at all.
On the contrary, very topical really, because even then there is next to no mention of the Encke Division, and how
IT should appear despite it being so fine. Only you, Ray, mentioned the Encke Div.. How many others knew what you were talking about, or the significance of its appearance is in the images?
The Encke Division is so poorly known that it counts for very little in conversation about images of Saturn. I've been using it as a gauge of the image quality of Saturn for a couple of years now - can it be seen or not.
Image processing is also a hindrance. Without knowing the Saturnian ring anatomy, features such as the Encke are overlooked or even eliminated altogether because the image processor doesn't know it is supposed to be there... they see it and then get rid of it thinking it must be an
imaging artifact. That is if the Encke Division was even captured by the scope and/or camera.
Have a look through last season's crop of Saturn images.
Alex.