Saturn
10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 5x barlow
Exposure = 85 msec, Gain = 12 of 250
August 6, 2022 5:20 UTC
The three main rings of Saturn, the outer A ring, the Cassini Division, the B ring, and the very faint C ring all appear to be visible in this image. The shadow of the inside front edge of the rings appears as a thin dark line along the planet’s “surface.” The planet’s disk is listed as 18 arcseconds across at this time (info from the RASC Observer’s Handbook). The largest moon in the solar system, Titan, is visible to the upper-left of the planet. Seeing conditions this evening were excellent.
Image stacked in Autostakkert using the top 25% of 1106 SER frames, post-processed in Affinity Photo.
North at 1 o’clock, East at 10 o’clock
10.1″ f/4.5, Mallincam DS432cTEC with 5x barlow and ADC
Exposure = 116.66 msec, Gain = 12 of 250 (Low Conversion Gain)
September 14, 2024 2:56 UTC
Average to good seeing conditions tonight, 3 out of 5. The rings are presenting themselves as nearly edge-on, with a thin dark line of a shadow from them appearing on Saturn’s cloud-top surface. If you look closely at the rings about two-thirds towards the edge, especially on the right-side rings, you can make out a bit of the Cassini division (at least I think I can!). Just to the left of the rings is the moon Tethys (magnitude 10.2); to the right, Enceladus (magnitude 11.7) and further right is Rhea (magnitude 9.7) – moon images were superimposed from another shorter exposure.
Image stacked in Autostakkert using the top 25% of 1000 TIFF frames, post-processed in PixInsight and Affinity Photo.
North at 10 o’clock, East at 7 o’clock
