Saturn 2018

My first Saturn of the 2018 apparition. Seeing was decent.

Notes:

• A storm is visible at the CM in the North Polar Region.

Seeing improved relative to the previous night.

Notes:

• The core of the north polar hexagon is faintly visible. The shape of the hexagon also might be resolved with close inspection.
• The storm in the north polar region is setting.

Seeing slightly improved compared to the previous photo. These are probably some of the best conditions the C8 has seen in a long time!

Notes:

• The core of the north polar hexagon is visible. The shape of the hexagon also might be resolved with close inspection.
• The storm in the north polar region is setting. A string of bright spots appear to be trailing it

The final photo of Saturn for the night. Seeing remained great!

Notes:

• The core of the north polar hexagon is visible. The shape of the hexagon also might be resolved with close inspection.
• The storm in the north polar region is setting. A string of bright spots appear to be trailing it.

Seeing was great as I switched over from Jupiter to Saturn.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is resolved, including its dark core.
• The southern hemisphere is visible through the Cassini Division.

Seeing remained great while capturing data for this photo.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is resolved, including its dark core.
• The southern hemisphere is visible through the Cassini Division.

Seeing deteriorated a little between the last photo and this one.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is resolved, including its dark core.
• The southern hemisphere is visible through the Cassini Division.

This is our first Saturn taken through the C14 EdgeHD. Sky conditions were excellent.

Notes:

• The polar hexagon and its core are resolved.
• The storm in the north polar region appears stretched out.
• There is a small smudge on the EZ at the CM.

Seeing remained very good, albeit slightly worse than the previous photo.

Notes:

• The polar hexagon and its core are resolved.
• The storm in the north polar region appears stretched out.
• There is a small smudge on the EZ just past the CM.

Seeing remained very steady.

Notes:

• The polar hexagon and its core are resolved.
• The storm in the north polar region appears stretched out.
• There is a small smudge on the EZ halfway between the CM and eastern limb.

This is the final photo of Saturn for the night. Conditions remained very good.

Notes:

• The polar hexagon and its core are resolved.
• The polar storm is stretched out eastward from the CM.
• There is a small smudge on the EZ halfway between the CM and eastern limb.

Seeing was decent, but nowhere near as good as the previous session on July 14th.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is visible, but its shape is unresolved.
• A bright patch is rising on the North Tropical Zone.
• Another bright patch is at the CM on the Equatorial Zone.

Seeing worsened a bit, but still decent enough for quality data.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is visible, but its shape is unresolved.
• A bright patch is rising on the North Tropical Zone.
• Another bright patch is just past the CM on the Equatorial Zone.

Seeing improved back to how it was during the first Saturn photo of the night.

Notes:

• The North Polar Hexagon is visible, but its shape is unresolved.
• A bright patch is rising on the North Tropical Zone.
• Another bright patch is just past the CM on the Equatorial Zone.

Seeing started better than the previous night, but not as good as the 14th of July. Saharan dust limited transparency.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched from the limb to just past the central meridian.

Seeing remained good. Saharan dust limited transparency.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched from the limb to just past the central meridian.

Seeing remained good. Saharan dust limited transparency.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched across the visible hemisphere of the planet.

Seeing remained good. Saharan dust limited transparency.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched across the visible hemisphere of the planet.

Seeing remained good. Saharan dust limited transparency.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched across the visible hemisphere of the planet. The storm appears to have two cores.

Seeing worsened a bit. Saharan dust limited transparency. Shortly after this photo, low clouds came in from the south, cutting off the opportunity to photograph Mars.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is resolved.
• The northern storm is stretched across the visible hemisphere of the planet. The storm appears to have two cores.

Seeing started out great after we switched over from Jupiter.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is visible. It looks as if there is a ring inside it.
• The outbreak at high northern latitudes is at the central meridian.

Seeing started out great after we switched over from Jupiter.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is visible. It looks as if there is a ring inside it.
• The outbreak at high northern latitudes is just past the central meridian.

This was our last photo of Saturn for the night, after which we moved on to photographing Mars. Seeing deteriorated quite a bit.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is visible. It looks as if there is a ring inside it.
• The outbreak at high northern latitudes is at the central meridian.

Seeing was good for our first photo of Saturn for the night.

Notes:

• There's a small smudge in the north polar region just before the central meridian.
• There's also a bright smudge in the northern Equatorial Zone.

Seeing continued to be good. After this photo, we moved on to imaging Mars.

Notes:

• There's a small smudge in the north polar region just before the central meridian.
• There's also a bright smudge in the northern Equatorial Zone.

Seeing mostly recovered after we moved on from Jupiter to Saturn.

Notes:

• A bright smudge in the north polar region is rising.
• A smaller smudge in the northern tropics is approaching the central meridian.

Seeing remained steady during our last Saturn photo for the night.

Notes:

• A bright smudge in the north polar region is rising.
• A smaller smudge in the northern tropics is approaching the central meridian.

Conditions were more difficult compared to previous nights. I used more data to compensate for worse conditions.

Notes:

• A bright smudge in the North Polar Region is setting.

Seeing was above average, but not as goog as previous nights.

Notes:

• The north polar storm is at the central meridian.

Seeing continued to be above average.

Notes:

• The north polar storm is past the central meridian.

Conditions continued to be great as I moved on from Jupiter to Saturn.

Notes:

• The core of the north polar hexagon is faintly visible.

Seeing remained average as I moved on to imaging Saturn. I had a harder time processing this image since I only had one video of the planet to process.

Notes:

• The northern storm may be rising.

Seeing was much better than the previous night and I also captured more data for a cleaner result.

Notes:

• The storm near the north pole is setting.
• A smaller storm at the same latitude appears to be rising.

Seeing remained very good after we moved on to Saturn from Jupiter.

Notes:

• The secondary storm near the north pole is barely past the central meridian.

Seeing remained very good as I moved on to Saturn.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is easily resolved.
• There's a small outbreak near the north pole at the central meridian.

Seeing remained very good as the night progressed.

Notes:

• The north polar hexagon is easily resolved.
• There's a small outbreak near the north pole just past the central meridian.

Seeing was above average for Saturn, but not as steady as the previous few nights.

Notes:

• The large storm near the north pole is approaching the central meridian.

Seeing was above average for Saturn

Notes:

• The north polar storm is crossing the central meridian.

The night began with very good seeing. This image was taken five years after our first Jupiter image with the C8 was taken.

Notes:

Seeing started good for this second consecutive night of imaging.

Notes:

• The north polar storm looks to be at the central meridian.

Seeing was not as cooperative for the first time in a few months. I decided to overhaul my imaging train for the C8. The ASI224MC has been swapped out for my ASI174MM with Orion RGB filters. While it takes work to get reasonably accurate colors with these filters, I find satisfaction with the colors captured by OSC cameras to be rare. Since the ASI74MM has larger pixels, I've switched back to the Celestron X-Cel 3x barlow to compensate.

Before imaging Mars, I figured capturing Saturn once more before it's lost to the Sun's glare would be a good idea.

Notes:

• The north polar storm is at the central meridian.