Saturn Dec 16th 2012 at 22 degrees alt

[Quark (Trevor)]

Hi All,

Had a crack at Saturn this morning to kick off my Saturn campaign for this apparition.

This data was captured at very low alt with the IR at 22 degrees & RGB at 25 degrees. I have been experimenting with WinJUPOS derotation with Jupiter which has really helped to resolve fine detail especially at the low alt that Jove has been for me this year. I applied similar technique to this Saturn data which has certainly helped with the poor seeing at such low alt.

The RGB clearly shows the storm remnant, I am sure better seeing and higher alt will result in very high res detail. I note that even in this RGB there is a dark spot on the Southern edge of the storm remnant toward the Preceding limb.

Thanks for looking.

Regards
Trevor

[Saturn%5 (Graeme)]

Great effort Trevor

[lepton3 (Ivan)]

Trevor, an excellent opening for your next Saturn campaign. Exciting to see this sort of detail even at the low elevation and below average seeing.

I guess we can declare Saturn season open for the south!

-Ivan

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Nice work, Trevor!

[icytailmark (Mark)]

nice start to this apparition trevor. Im really looking to imaging saturn for the first time when its a little higher in the sky. What focal length were these images taken at?

[Quark (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by Saturn%5

Great effort Trevor

Thanks Graeme.

Originally Posted by lepton3

Trevor, an excellent opening for your next Saturn campaign. Exciting to see this sort of detail even at the low elevation and below average seeing.

I guess we can declare Saturn season open for the south!

-Ivan

Thanks ivan, with Saturn at 70 degrees alt in 2013 reckon we should all get some great data.

Originally Posted by Larryp

Nice work, Trevor!

Thanks Laurie.

Originally Posted by icytailmark

nice start to this apparition trevor. Im really looking to imaging saturn for the first time when its a little higher in the sky. What focal length were these images taken at?

Thanks Mark, this data was captured at a F/L of 9.66 metres. Around 10 metres seems to be the optimal F/L for large Newtonian Reflectors. Of all the planets, I think, Saturn inspires planetary imagers the most. I look forward to seeing your first efforts at imaging it.

[asimov (John)]

Looking the goods Trevor. Can't wait for Saturn! Back to luxurious 'almost at the zenith shooting' Oh yes!

[Shiraz (Ray)]

very nice opening image Trevor. Good to see some structure. Have you been using the video derotation? regards Ray

[Paul Haese]

A finally, well done Trev. I am looking forward to imaging Saturn this year. The rings are nicely opened with some of the southern hemisphere still present. Cassini all the way around. Will be a treat. With some nice seeing we should get some great images

[Quark (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by asimov

Looking the goods Trevor. Can't wait for Saturn! Back to luxurious 'almost at the zenith shooting' Oh yes!

Thanks Asi, yes it really is going to be a Saturn feast. Looking at "The Sky 6", for my location. Saturn rises to 70 degrees in 2013, peaks at 80 degrees in 2016/2017 and doesn't drop back below 70 degrees until 2023. Well over a decade with Saturn virtually over the top of my observatory, makes me start to salivate.

Originally Posted by Shiraz

very nice opening image Trevor. Good to see some structure. Have you been using the video derotation? regards Ray

Thanks Ray, over the last four months I have been putting in a lot of time experimenting with all the forms of derot within WinJUPOS and yes, I have tried derot of video. This Saturn data however is multiple RGB data sets. I still have much further to go with with things I want to try. I am very encouraged by the results thus far, particularly with the results I have had using rather ordinary Jup data, but more work needs to be done to establish what will be optimum for my particular imaging system.

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

A finally, well done Trev. I am looking forward to imaging Saturn this year. The rings are nicely opened with some of the southern hemisphere still present. Cassini all the way around. Will be a treat. With some nice seeing we should get some great images

Thanks Paul, for sure we have great times ahead with Saturn.