Saturn through a 10-inch telescope

I let Saturn drift through the field of view of my 10-inch Dobsonian reflector while videoing it. With zooming in, I got frames that I ran through Registax to get a clearer image. In that image, Cassini's division is visible in the rings along with other details.

Registax can be downloaded from:
http://www.astronomie.be/registax/

To find where Saturn will be in the sky this year, use the website Sky View Cafe:

http://www.skyviewcafe.com/

Saturn will be in the constellation Leo in 2009.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Mic Micson]

Thad,

Can you show me how to find Uranus with my 8in telescope? I had a hard time to find it.

[Thad Szabo]

Astronomy and Sky and Telescope usually put out a chart for finding Uranus and Neptune at least once a year.

I recommend downloading Stellarium (free planetarium software) and using that to see what constellation it's in and what stars are nearby to guide you to it.

[VancouverCanucksRock]

Sir, I need some help here. at 12:00 AM PT for the last week at least, I have been seeing a blue and red flickering "star" at the bottom of the western sky. It stays in possition with the other stars and moves over the course of the night. What is this? I have never seen this before...

[Thad Szabo]

That was most likely the star, Arcturus. It's much lower to the horizon now. If the air is unstable, it can really distort the view and cause a star to flicker madly and even appear to change color.

[mycatisromeo]

Would I be able to see this with Celestron SkyMaster Giant 15x70 Binoculars and a tripod?

[Thad Szabo]

You should be able to see that Saturn has rings with that arrangement. You should also be able to see its largest moon, Titan.

[looloopeekeesugar]

how do you locate the planets?

[Thad Szabo]

Rotation is not responsible for gravity; the presence of mass is. The gas giants increase in pressure and density as you go deeper into them, and eventually you have a transition from a gas state to a dense fluid-like state. The change is so gradual that there is no surface to speak of. Jupiter and Saturn are theorized to have rocky cores, but the pressure there is many millions times the atmospheric pressure on Earth.

Stars definitely don't have a surface; how do they exist?

[aprox23]

Nicely done Thad. :)

[VancouverCanucksRock]

Hmmm oh, you sure it's not Nibiru? LOL just kidding

[xtremetom180]

really informative and interesting

[TheScottocs]

How did you get the image in so much detail, I have a 10-inch dob and can only see Mars as a small dot of colour

[Thad Szabo]

It's an effect known as chromatic aberration. Blue light and red light don't bend at the same angle, so if a telescope or eyepiece doesn't correct for this, you see the images slightly offset from each other. I've also seen it caused by the atmosphere when something is close to the horizon. Were you looking at Venus (the brightest object in the west after sunset)? It can show up strongly with that planet.