Saturn 2022
UTC
First night of planetary imaging after a months long streak of bad weather. Our view of Saturn's rings continue to close as it heads towards equinox in 2025.
UTC
First night of planetary imaging after a months long streak of bad weather. Our view of Saturn's rings continue to close as it heads towards equinox in 2025.
UTC
Our first time taking the EdgeHD 14 outside since September. Perhaps the Astro-Physics 1100GTO and Mach2GTO mounts we've been using for deep sky imaging have spoiled me, but managing such a large and heavy setup on the CGEM DX seemed much harder than I remember. Frequent breezes and the telescope starting far out of collimation did not help.
Seeing was not the best, but it was certainly good enough for some nice details. The southern hemisphere is emerging from a long and cold winter, which has caused the yellow-brown haze to clear out and leave shades of purple and blue. As the intensity of sunlight increases as equinox approaches over the next few years, we will see the normal colors return.
UTC
Our first time taking the EdgeHD 14 outside since September. Perhaps the Astro-Physics 1100GTO and Mach2GTO mounts we've been using for deep sky imaging have spoiled me, but managing such a large and heavy setup on the CGEM DX seemed much harder than I remember. Frequent breezes and the telescope starting far out of collimation did not help.
Seeing was not the best, but it was certainly good enough for some nice details. The southern hemisphere is emerging from a long and cold winter, which has caused the yellow-brown haze to clear out and leave shades of purple and blue. As the intensity of sunlight increases as equinox approaches over the next few years, we will see the normal colors return.
UTC
Excellent seeing while imaging Saturn on September 21st, 2022.
Visible on the B-ring left of the planet is a small dark spot. I initially assumed it was a post-processing artifact, but upon checking the individual images it was clear this was a real feature moving through the ring. These dark spots have been termed "spokes" and are seasonal phenomenon of the rings seen in 8-year periods centered on Saturnian equinoxes. The next one coming up in 2025 means we are just beginning to see spokes appear on the B-ring. We should continue to see more over the next few years as our view of the rings continue to close.
Animation of Spokes
UTC
Excellent seeing while imaging Saturn on September 21st, 2022.
Visible on the B-ring left of the planet is a small dark spot. I initially assumed it was a post-processing artifact, but upon checking the individual images it was clear this was a real feature moving through the ring. These dark spots have been termed "spokes" and are seasonal phenomenon of the rings seen in 8-year periods centered on Saturnian equinoxes. The next one coming up in 2025 means we are just beginning to see spokes appear on the B-ring. We should continue to see more over the next few years as our view of the rings continue to close.
Animation of Spokes