Sunday, June 18, 2017

Saturn 3 days after opposition

Saturn was opposite the sun in Earth's sky on June 15th, and is seen during the entire night. Typically the best moments to observe planets like Mars, Jupiter, ... are those moments of opposition. However, as Saturn shows up only 17° above the horizon, conditions to observe are rather poor.
This morning I was able to make some pictures of Saturn using TAL200K and ASI224MC. Stacking was done using both RegiStax as AutoStakkert!
The Cassini division can be observed which is about 4500km wide and located between ring A (outer) and ring B (inner) and seen as a dark "line". Also some sort of shape is seen on the planet's surface. 


Below you can find a presentation of Saturn's Rings geometry over a long period.