My first view of Saturn

s3bl3x

.... and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!

Ok not very clearly as my Barlow hasnt arrived yet but still amazing all the same!!

here are some pics

(They were only taken with an iPhone, but you get the idea)

Plug

I get a great buzz anytime I see it. Its like the Holy Stone of Clonricard:D

peterako

Nicely said Plug

I still remember the buzz I got from my first view of Saturn!

It was through and Astromaster 130 EQ too!!

Clear skies,
Peter

ladypip

As a non astronomer i think those pics are really beautiful and it must be such a privilege to see another planet with your own eyes.

s3bl3x

Haha yeah just like the stone

It took me 3 nights of searching to find it. Finally when the moon came out while it was still bright i was able to tune the view finder so when thst was right i found saturn in 3 seconds hahaha!

Cant wait to see it again

Seeking Self

If you ever have trouble locating objects in the sky, could I suggest a programme called Stellarium? Its a free download and you can set it to your coordinates and it even has a handy red-shaded night-mode! All you'll need then is a compass and an idea of what you're looking for, and Bob's your uncle. I think its an extremely useful tool.

TwistsAndTurns

^
+1

jim69

where is it in relation to the moon ? whats best time to view

peterako

Stelarium will show you exactly where Saturn is at any given time.

The Moon 'moves' every night to a new position in the sky, and Saturn is moving too, so it's not in the same place relative to Saturn every night.

Stellarium Excellent Free Astronomy Software.....really EXCELLENT!!

At the moment it's not getting dark till way after 10pm and we have very little light polution where I am.

I start to view at about 10.30pm, but if you're in a big town or Dublin you may have trouble seeing Saturn to find it till later.

Peter

The Scientician

Two Saturns for the price of one. I used to be mad into astronomy as a kid, until I bought a junkscope. I got a blurryish but huge view of the moon but that's all I could get out of it at night.

NUTZZ

I felt I had to share this little story as new novice astronomer!

I had my scope set up about ten minutes ago to view Saturn as it was a clear night. Anyway I was sorely disappointed when I realized just how awful my scope is as Saturn appeared as just a slightly bright dot, no detail what so ever. So I was fiddling about with the focus for a few minutes to see if I could improve on it, when all of sudden a huge flash of light streaked in front of my scope as I was looking through it! I couldn't believe it, it thought it was shooting star but when I looked up I could see a tiny dot moving quite fast across the sky, it was a satellite! What are the chances of it crossing my scope for the few minutes that I was looking at Saturn! It was very exciting I have to say!

Anyone have any idea what satellite it was by any chance? It was bout 00:30, facing almost directly south, and it crossed in front of Saturn at that time

DarkDusk

NUTZZ wrote: »

I felt I had to share this little story as new novice astronomer!

I had my scope set up about ten minutes ago to view Saturn as it was a clear night. Anyway I was sorely disappointed when I realized just how awful my scope is as Saturn appeared as just a slightly bright dot, no detail what so ever. So I was fiddling about with the focus for a few minutes to see if I could improve on it, when all of sudden a huge flash of light streaked in front of my scope as I was looking through it! I couldn't believe it, it thought it was shooting star but when I looked up I could see a tiny dot moving quite fast across the sky, it was a satellite! What are the chances of it crossing my scope for the few minutes that I was looking at Saturn! It was very exciting I have to say!

Anyone have any idea what satellite it was by any chance? It was bout 00:30, facing almost directly south, and it crossed in front of Saturn at that time

I'm 99% sure it was the SO-50. That is, if you meant 23:30 instead of 00:30. You can out more about the satellite here. Hope this helps!
James.

NUTZZ

DarkDusk wrote: »

I'm 99% sure it was the SO-50. That is, if you meant 23:30 instead of 00:30. You can out more about the satellite here. Hope this helps!
James.

Yeh I meant 23:30, thanks very much for the info!

DarkDusk

No problem! You should get Stellarium here. It's very handy and is the way I found out the satellite for you! You can go back in time and see exactly what was in the sky from your position (just put in your coordinates in settings) last night, the day before or even in the future to plan your viewings. You probably have it already but just in case.
James.

NUTZZ

DarkDusk wrote: »

No problem! You should get Stellarium here. It's very handy and is the way I found out the satellite for you! You can go back in time and see exactly what was in the sky from your position (just put in your coordinates in settings) last night, the day before or even in the future to plan your viewings. You probably have it already but just in case.
James.

I have it already but I never knew you could track satellites? That's awesome!

DarkDusk

Ya, if you have the latest version all you have it do is: Configuration Window [F2] -> Plugins -> Satellites -> Tick the box ''open on startup'', and it should work. I think this is only if you have the newest version so make sure about that.

NUTZZ

DarkDusk wrote: »

Ya, if you have the latest version all you have it do is: Configuration Window [F2] -> Plugins -> Satellites -> Tick the box ''open on startup'', and it should work. I think this is only if you have the newest version so make sure about that.

I just enabled it, that's a brilliant plugin, thanks for that! Having looked at it, that wasn't the satellite I saw! The one i saw was coming from the south and heading almost straight over my head to the north/north west direction!