I observed Saturn through my 10.1" Newtonian at varying magnifications of 120 X ~ 240 on several evenings to produce this large 19" X 25" pastel impression. A template was made from Anthony Wesley's superb photographic imaging of Saturn and Sol Robbins template at the Cloudy Nights Forums to aid in accurately representing the current appearance and proportions of Saturn’s rings. Although several moons were visible, I did not render them here for this artwork. Seeing conditions were medium to marginal so I rendered the details in Saturn’s rings only as I could observe them due to visual seeing limitations. The Casinni Division was easily observed as were several cloud belts, where the Crepe Ring was negligible at best. The cloud belts were left as some what unblended soft pastel coloring and intended more as an impression rather than photographic realism.
An artist’s conceptual landscape was added at the bottom for dramatic effect as if standing on the surface of Titan with a vista at the shore gazing over an ocean. * A second detail close-up cropped from the original artwork is also attached here for your viewing pleasure.
