Last night was one of those nights and I'd be interested to know if anyone else had an exceptional observation. I'm sure it's the same feeling a golfer gets when he hits a hole-in-one that keeps him coming back to the course in spite of all the bogeys in between. I set up my home-made 200mm classical Cassegrain intending to take a quick look at Saturn to verify that the collimation tweaking I had done on Saturday night was an improvement. Holy cow! It was still twilight, really, about 8:30pm. I was immediately greeted by Titan and Rhea. Honestly, Rhea was in-and-out with averted vision, but it was there. I immediately switched from 100x to 200x. Unlike previous views with the 200mm Cassegrain, the Cassini division was immediately visible all the way around the rings. I realize that the Cassini division isn't hard to see, especially when the rings are tilting as much as they are this year. But, as I said, I wasn't able to see them before with this scope. I could also see the shadow of the planet on the rings. I could also see one of the equatorial/ temperate bands on the planet's disc.
I had intended to go out, look for thirty minutes, then go back in. I ended up staying out for over an hour. It was hypnotic. The longer I stared, the more I saw, just like it's supposed to be. I could see, in addition to the equatorial/ temperate band, many striations of tan all across the face of Saturn. I also saw three colors in the rings. Previous to last night I've only ever seen light and dark (OK, yellow and black). Last night, though, I could see the black of Cassini, the yellow of the main body of the rings, and bright white near the Cassini division where the rings get thin. Perhaps I was willing myself to see something that I know is there, but I also bet I saw the Enke Minimum at least a couple of times.
Makes me glad I didn't sell this scope for parts and buy a Mewlon 210. It's pretty cool having something you built working that well.
I had intended to go out, look for thirty minutes, then go back in. I ended up staying out for over an hour. It was hypnotic. The longer I stared, the more I saw, just like it's supposed to be. I could see, in addition to the equatorial/ temperate band, many striations of tan all across the face of Saturn. I also saw three colors in the rings. Previous to last night I've only ever seen light and dark (OK, yellow and black). Last night, though, I could see the black of Cassini, the yellow of the main body of the rings, and bright white near the Cassini division where the rings get thin. Perhaps I was willing myself to see something that I know is there, but I also bet I saw the Enke Minimum at least a couple of times.
Makes me glad I didn't sell this scope for parts and buy a Mewlon 210. It's pretty cool having something you built working that well.