Saturn September 7th in good seeing

[Quark (Trevor)]

Hi All, it's been a while.

Imaged Saturn September 7th in good seeing have a mountain of data and all has been uploaded to PVOL, these data are up there with the best I have produced this apparition. The 685nm IR data is exceptional, the Methane and R very good while G and B were good. There is a plethora of small scale detail resolved from the pole to the ring shadow. The IR, as always, resolves most of the available detail while R and RGB resolve detail but to a lesser degree.
I have measured and marked the most prominent of the detail but the animations clearly reveal even more. The IR data resolves the long lived coupled pair of bright spots on the edge of the NPR are at approx Lat+64.8 L3 201.3 and Lat+63.1 L3 213.4. Mid latitude bright spots at approx Lat+32.8 L3 120.6, Lat+29.7 L3 149.3. The IR also resolves a large diffuse bright spot in the NEB the diameter of this feature covers the width of the NEB at approx Lat+19.1 L3 145.5. The IR resolves considerable detail and structure in the EZ with the most prominent being a very bright plume at approx Lat+9.6 L1 5.0 and another bright spot Lat+0.1 L1 345.1.
The R channel data resolves a mid latitude bright spot not resolved in IR at approx Lat+30 L3 162 the R data also resolves the bright EZ plume along with a compact bright spot on the very edge of the ring shadow at approx Lat-4.9 L1 14.1.
The RGB resolves the mid latitude bright spot seen in the R data along with another at Lat+29.4 L3 111 and also resolves the very bright plume in the EZ.
The Methane data resolves a string of bright spots in the EZ, I have marked three of them but there are at least six.
When preparing the individual IR, R and RGB data sets I have taken great care to place the insets included with them in precisely the same relative location so any of the IR, R or RGB data sets can be blinked such that the movement of the marked detail within the insets can be tracked from one data set to another.
Have animations in 685nm IR, CH4, R and RGB along with 685nm IR and RGB polar animations.
Cheers
Trevor

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu...85nmIR_tba.gif

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu..._polar_tba.gif

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu...1-18_r_tba.gif

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu...24_rgb_tba.gif

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu..._polar_tba.gif

http://pvol2.ehu.eus/pvolimages/satu...35_CH4_tba.gif

[Retrograde (Pete)]

Wow - so much to take in.

Thanks for sharing all of this with us Trevor.

[Dennis]

Excellent series and supporting story Trevor.

Cheers

Dennis

[multiweb (Marc)]

Top shelf Trev. Inspiring.

[Quark (Trevor)]

Thanks very much Pete, many years ago I was a regular here but am tied up with research now, of course pertaining to Saturn but still occasionally post data that I think is important.

[Quark (Trevor)]

Thanks very much Dennis, great to you still involved here, hope you are well and staying safe in these troubling times.

[Quark (Trevor)]

Thanks very much Marc, regarding planetary imaging and scope size, not sure but I think Damian may have started out with a C-8. Have seen some corker images produced with C-9.25 scopes, that said I am extremely happy with my Newt. I designed it with a ray trace program called "Newt", Bird put me onto it. Every thing about my scope is optimized for planetary imaging even the size and placement of the baffles were determined by "Newt", I have never had an eyepiece in it only my imaging train.

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Quark

Thanks very much Dennis, great to you still involved here, hope you are well and staying safe in these troubling times.

Thank you Trevor and likewise, hope you and your loved ones are well and keeping safe.

Times like these make me more grateful for the simple things in life that we normally take for granted; waking up healthy, a roof over our heads, loved ones and food on the table. Everything else is a bonus.

Cheers

Dennis

[Anth10 (Anthony M)]

Brilliant post Trevor and all remarks well put.
Anth

[Derek Klepp]

Thanks Trevor always good to see these shots and thanks for the explanations.I often wonder if within our lifetime we’ll have affordable adaptive optics for amateurs.
Derek