Four Saturns

I had a little time on my hand so I thought I'd put together this montage of Saturn in each of the past four oppositions. It really shows the changing aspects of the rings. The first two are a little closer to each other than the last two in terms of when I shot them. I used a Pro ToUcam with a 2X teleconverter on my C-11 with my G-11 mount. Processed in Registax. I have a feeling my next one is going to be close to edge on.

Steve Thornton

Attached Image:

That's a very nice montage Steve! And it's proof that a C11 is an effective planet machine, thanks for posting that. Can't wait for the next frame of that series (and a heads-up that Starry Night software seems to indicate that the cross-over and perfectly edge-on will occur before opposition, if you should want that frame too.)

Jason H.

Steve Thornton said:

I had a little time on my hand so I thought I'd put together this montage of Saturn in each of the past four oppositions. It really shows the changing aspects of the rings. The first two are a little closer to each other than the last two in terms of when I shot them. I used a Pro ToUcam with a 2X teleconverter on my C-11 with my G-11 mount. Processed in Registax. I have a feeling my next one is going to be close to edge on.

Steve Thornton

Hi Steve, I must be blind, I didn't even see your posting until now. Those are very impressive Saturn images! You're right, later this year and in '09 the Ringed Planet will be very interesting to observe and image, especially when its rings are back lit. Have a good weekend, Dan