Saturn's made me a happy n00b

[tsuken]

I'm just buzzing atm. I haven't had a chance to set up my telescope for a fair while, what with my kids sleeping horribly, and being knackered from work and...

Anyway, I had to grab it a couple of evenings ago, after a stunner of a moon caught my eye through the window. I got a couple of pics that make me happy (just holding my little point-and-click up to the eyepiece).

Reading through AS&T I see Saturn's at opposition tomorrow, and looking at the sky today there's been not a cloud. So I dragged the 'scope out again. I went looking for Leo first, as my handy-dandy AS&T said Saturn was in Leo. I couldn't identify anything likely looking with naked eye or binoculars, and for want of any other ideas, I pointed the scope at the Easternmost star in Leo...

I thought...

When I put my eye to the eyepiece I almost fell over. No way would a star resolve into a tiny disc with tiny bumps either side.

I only have a 25mm eyepiece, giving me just 30x magnification, so all I saw was said disc with bumps - though unless my mind was playing tricks on me, and I just convinced myself of it, there did seem to be just-visible gaps between the disc and the bumps in the right places to look ring-like.

I was completely floored.

After gazing for a while I had a wee look at the Orion nebula, and found it much more clear than when I saw it previously. It seemed to jump out more if I had it a bit towards the edge of the field - does that makes any sense?

I'm telling myself I was successful in finding the large Magellanic Cloud as well - not that it looked like anything more than a bit of a smudge

Oh, and of course I checked out the moon again. I just can't get enough of it really.

[madtuna (Steve)]

congrats!! The only thing better than my first glimpse of Saturn was the look on my daughters face when she saw it for the first time too

[iceman (Mike)]

Well done, Saturn is certainly one of those objects that blows you away the first time you see it!

You need to get yourself some higher power eyepieces. Saturn will still look good for the next month or so after sunset, but as it gets lower it will be harder to see detail and require better seeing.

[Bobj]

Adter 4 weeks of wet and cloudy conditions I, too, hauled out the dob and trained it on Saturn. "Gobsmacked" is the only way to describe it. Then the moon appeared and the session was terminated.
One thing I forgot....30 deg C and eyepieces in air-conditioning don't go....Had to wait for 20 minutes for the eyepieces to get to ambient temps. (the dob lives in the breezeway)

[Ric]

Saturn is one of those sights that is always spectacular at virtually any magnification.

When it is up I always make a point of spending at least 5-10 minutes every session just having a look and enjoying it's beauty.

Cheers

[Moonboy (Gus)]

When I saw Saturn for the first time I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was so amazed that I stayed outside all night looking at it, until I remembered I had school tomorrow, then I called it a night.. but anyway Saturn is always fun to look at.

Gus