Seeing Saturn for the first time

Frosty · #1 10-01-2005, 02:02 AM

I saw Saturn for the first time tonight...
One word to describe it! "Wow!"

I also saw Jupiter couple days ago which looked great, though personally I think Saturn looked better...

iceman (Mike) · #2 10-01-2005, 06:06 AM

aaahhh, welcome to the club Frosty.. the first viewing of Saturn is truly one you'll never forget. What altitude was it at when you saw it?

It's not a great year for Saturn for us in the south, it doesn't get much above 35-40 degrees.. make sure you check it out at it's highest when it's in the north.. down low on the horizon the seeing is shocking and it's hard to get a crisp focus to be able to see the cassini division and banding on the disc.

Jupiter is great too, but I agree not quite like Saturn.. once you see the cloud bands of Jupiter it looks better, and the 4 moons give it some depth too.. I haven't yet seen the GRS or any moon transit, but will be aiming to image one or both of those in the next few weeks cause i'll have the laptop for about a month.

Starkler (Geoff) · #3 10-01-2005, 09:59 AM

Saturn looks good doesnt it ? On a reasonably good night you can see banding on the planet and different shades in the rings.

I personally find Jupiter much more interesting, but to see much detail you need good seeing and good contrast in your equipment. I have spent a lot of time looking at Jupiter waiting for those all too brief periods when the atmosphere settles and you get a pocket of still air then

at the details in the cloud bands

Frosty · #4 10-01-2005, 11:43 AM

Well the first time I saw Jupiter was when it was near the moon... around Jan 04 i think... Im guessing thats y it looked so white coz of the reflection from the moon?

rumples riot · #5 10-01-2005, 04:09 PM

I have to agree Jupiter is much more interesting and some planetary filters bring out the subtle colours and tones.

Still Saturn can be interesting.

Paul

ving (David) · #6 10-01-2005, 04:34 PM

Oh I think saturn can be just as interesting and even more challenging. trying to find detail in saturn is quite a challenge

congrats frosty

Orion · #7 10-01-2005, 07:10 PM

I remember showing people for the first time Saturn and Jupiter through the telescope and they were absolutely amazed. One person told me he didn’t know there were planets up there!

Paul what type of filter do you use?