[astro744]

The pictures you see are usually done with high speed CCD video cameras capturing AVI footage and then processed so that only the sharp frames are used and stacked to give the final image. You will notice the sharpest pictures are those from captured AVI footage and those from DSLR, although good cannot compete with the detail.

In the days of film exposure times for planetary imaging were in the order of a second or two (depending on many parameters) but they were never 1/30 or 1/60 sec. snaps. During the exposure the seeing had to remain steady which was not often the case. Visually though the eye could spot fine detail during brief fractional seconds of exceptional seeing giving the eye an advantage over photgraphy. Nowadays imaging has the edge over visual in the amount of detail that can be recorded. However nothing has changed for visual observing as you can still see an incredible anmount of detail given the right conditions and these conditions are:

1. A well collimated telescope which can be achieved with a star test and minimal tools.
2. A temperature stabilised telescope and eyepiece, (An hour of cooling for a 6" will make a big difference).
3. Exceptional seeing between you and the object with no turbulence in the atmosphere or within your local surrounds, eg. warm roof top or pavement giving rise to thermal currents.
4. A quality eyepiece (for planets only on axis performance matters if tracking is utilised).
5. Good eyesight and a trained eye for detail only achieved through experience.

Turbulent atmosphere and warm equipment are usually the main culprits to bad images and if your telescope is cooled but the atmosphere is not cooperating then either wait a bit or try another night.

Saturns rings are edge on but will open up over the next few years. The atmospehere of Saturn is bland compared to Jupiter but shaded bands can be seen although the colours are subtle. Either get up early and try Jupiter now or wait for Jupiter to move into our evening sky over the next few months.

Note transparency of the atmosphere is not so important for planetary observing and in fact good seeing can be achieved through hazy conditions. In fact a very dark sky can often be more turbulent especially if a cold front has recently passed.