Saturn viewing and ring tilt?
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Papa Fox
Posted:
Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:46 am
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 5
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Saturn viewing and ring tilt?
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I'm new to this forum and have a few questions for some regular astronomers out there.
1)How close to/from solar conjunction have you been able to view saturn?
2) When will the rings appear edge-on again?
3) When were they last at the max tilt?
4) When did it last reach perihelion?
5) What size scope do you need to see the cassini division?
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Champion_Munch
Posted:
Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:50 am
Joined: 09 Sep 2005
Posts: 3
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Welcome to the board Papa Fox. 
| Quote: | | 1)How close to/from solar conjunction have you been able to view saturn? |
I've seen Saturn about 2 weeks before/after conjunction before, but it's really not worthwhile because -
1) Saturn is close to the Sun, so you can only see it just before sunrise and just after sunset
2) Because it is so close to the Sun, it will be near the horizon and you'll be looking through more of Earth's atmosphere, which disorts the view.
3) Saturn will appear very small because just before/after conjunction it is on the opposite side of the Sun to us.
It is much better to view the planet around Opposition, when it is up the entire night (rises at sunset and sets at sunrise) and is at it's largest angular size. The next opposition is coming up in January next year.
| Quote: | 2) When will the rings appear edge-on again?
3) When were they last at the max tilt? |
Have a look at this site: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/40/ring2.html
| Quote: | | 4) When did it last reach perihelion? |
Perihelion, when Saturn is closest to the Sun, occured last in December 2002. That means that we will see it progessively smaller each year, until about a dozen years time when we'll start seeing it 'grow' in [apparent] size again. But unless you have a moderately large telescope, you won't be able to make out much difference between years anyway.
| Quote: | | 5) What size scope do you need to see the cassini division? |
Through a 10cm (4 inch) 'scope, you may be able to spot the division (although I never did when I had the chance to use a similar sized aperture). With my old 13cm 'scope I was able to see it, however.
with regards
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