Russell points out different (and very useful) ways to produce planetary templates with and without the use of a computer. The time honored method of hand-drawn ellipses is viable but very time consuming and uneven lines may be produced in the process. The final template produced using a computer depends upon the software used (I personally use drawing software such a CorelDraw and Deneba Canvas) and the experience of the creator. Some people look down upon using templates as they feel this is "cheating" but the most important thing for the planetary observer is to accurately record what they observe. The accurate recording of faint planetary features (e.g. Saturn's faint bands) is more important than the ability of the observer to produce a rendering from scratch at the eyepiece. I have employed both methods for many years and have not noticed any difference except for a faster rendition with the use of a template. The difficulty has been primarily with Mars (changing phases) and Saturn (changing ring tilt). Jupiter does exhibit a minimal phase at quadrature (90 degree angle produced by Sun-Earth-Jupiter) which does not affect the final image (especially since Jupiter exhibits limb attenuation similar to the Sun's Wilson Effect).
I will be happy to provide any observer with copies of my templates (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) in PDF format. You may open them using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 available on the Adobe web site (www.adobe.com).
Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez
I will be happy to provide any observer with copies of my templates (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) in PDF format. You may open them using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 available on the Adobe web site (www.adobe.com).
Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez
