Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Cloudy Nights - Official Forums of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu.... uh, User   You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Announcements and News >> Beginners Forum Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Get the best views of Saturn, ever!       #2653484 - 09/20/08 02:45 PM Attachment (90 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Saturn will soon be appearing in the pre-dawn sky. Here are some tips for those of you who have never seen it before, or want better views of it. I'm not saying that some of us cheat to get good views of Saturn, but the following photos will show you how the pros do it. First, find a good photo of Saturn. This one won't do, because of the unrealistic white space between the rings and the planet. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653485 - 09/20/08 02:50 PM Attachment (71 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here's a better photo of Saturn to use. Get a good pair of scissors. I would have used black thread, but all I had in remote rural Utah was dental floss. I'll turn it black with a permanent black ink marker before using it. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653492 - 09/20/08 02:58 PM Attachment (58 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here's Saturn almost ready to view. Once I dye the dental floss black, it'll be ready to insert in the telescope. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653499 - 09/20/08 03:03 PM Attachment (60 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Eastern US viewers sometimes mount their planets on plastic sheets, to simulate their mediocre seeing conditions. Here's a simulation of their simulation. I won't mention any names, but Tom Trusock complains about bad seeing in the midwest (that's east for those of us from California). Kinda like looking through plastic, right? -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       Mark9473 Carpal Tunnel Reged: 07/21/05 Posts: 2703 Loc: 51°N 4°E Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653500 - 09/20/08 03:03 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   -------------------- Mark Leica 8x20; Vixen 8x42; Swift 8.5x44, 10x50 and 20x80; TS 7x50; Orion 15x63 WO Megrez II 80 FD + Baader 90° T2 Amici Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653504 - 09/20/08 03:10 PM Attachment (58 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This photo illustrates the problem that refractor users have. It's difficult to hide your secrets from other viewers without disassembling the front objective element. Before use, you have to reverse Saturn so it's facing the eyepiece, of course. This photo is just to illustrate how you set up for evening viewing of Saturn. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653510 - 09/20/08 03:12 PM Attachment (50 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Like this... -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653515 - 09/20/08 03:14 PM Attachment (55 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here's a reflector owner getting ready for a night of planetary viewing. Notice that it doesn't really matter if you have an unobstructed horizon. The trees actually give you a darker background. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653522 - 09/20/08 03:22 PM Attachment (52 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here's a closeup of his secret for sharp reflector planetary views. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653528 - 09/20/08 03:26 PM Attachment (51 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The suspense is almost unbearable! -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       calibos sage Reged: 11/18/07 Posts: 402 Loc: Ireland Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653529 - 09/20/08 03:26 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This is a Legendary post !! -------------------- Keith D. Orion SkyQuest XT12i Moonlite CR Focusser with Rigel motofocus Brian Reed 'RoundTable' Equatorial Platform Howie Glatter Holograhic Collimator and Blug Baader Hyperion 21/32mm,17mm,13mm,8mm,5mm,3.5mm EP TS 15x70 Binoculars [img]http://7timer.y234.cn/exe/apanel.php?country=EI&adm=EI31&site=92&en[/img] Post Extras:       Silicon Owl scholastic sledgehammer Reged: 11/25/05 Posts: 943 Loc: Waimea, Hawaii Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653530 - 09/20/08 03:27 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Now that is classic! Any time I show Saturn to the public I have never lost my personal bet that someone will accuse me (usually jokingly) that there is an photo/sticker/slide in the telescope. It never fails. -------------------- Andrew Cooper Personal Website and CN Gallery Handmade 18" Dob / NS11GPS / 6" RFT / 90mm APO / TV-76 ...and a twin 10m "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." --Sarah Williams Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653534 - 09/20/08 03:30 PM Attachment (48 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes, Saturn is supposed to face the primary mirror. This is just a how-to illustration. But look at the sharpness. Look at the clarity. You can see equatorial bands on Saturn. Cassini Division - no problem. Enke Division - no problem. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653535 - 09/20/08 03:34 PM Attachment (53 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Okay, some of you beat me to completing the series . This is the final post. Saturn in a reflector, ready for the best views of your life! -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653540 - 09/20/08 03:41 PM Attachment (47 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   If this is going to be a classic, even legendary thread, this photo of alien life through a Schmidt-Cassegrain needs to be included -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 8269 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653542 - 09/20/08 03:42 PM Attachment (55 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Another view. -------------------- Lotteries are a tax on people who don't understand math - Snorkler Post Extras:       insinu8 sage Reged: 01/22/08 Posts: 362 Loc: Sunnyvale, CA Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653559 - 09/20/08 03:53 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Oh god, stop! You're killing me! -------------------- Christopher -------------------- AT66ED ED80 120ST (Moonlit) NP127is TMB 130SS MN55 (Moonlit) 150MCT TEC160ED (DOB: 11.06.08) SN8 MN86 C9.25 (Moonlit) XT10 Dob Obsession 18"UC Post Extras:       rd56 sage Reged: 12/17/06 Posts: 293 Loc: Central New Jersey Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653564 - 09/20/08 04:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Dang!! I knew it was some kind of trick. -------------------- -Orion SkyQuest Intelliscope XT8 -Meade ETX-105 Maksutov-Cassegrain -Antares 8X50 RACI Finder -Alt-Az/EQ mount with Autostar Go-To -Meade Super Plossl Eyepieces: (9.7mm,15mm,26mm,40mm) -SkyChart (Cartes du Ciel) software Ron E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle (And so we came forth and once again beheld the stars) Dante's Inferno Post Extras:       star drop Guilty as Charged Reged: 02/02/08 Posts: 3337 Loc: Cattaraugus Co., NY Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: snorkler]       #2653571 - 09/20/08 04:07 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   That's the problem. At first I thought that the desert heat had you confused a bit. That alien life form bit you and you have totally lost it. A classic post indeed. What happens if the wind spins Saturn around and your viewers read the words on the backside? I always have newcomers look down the telescope tube first and even then some ask that same question about a picture being inside. Sometimes you just can't win. -------------------- Ted Tectron 25" dobsonian 10x70 binoculars Post Extras:       john D All you have to do is ask!! Reged: 08/05/07 Posts: 4973 Loc: Midlothian, VA Re: Get the best views of Saturn, ever! [Re: star drop]       #2653602 - 09/20/08 04:24 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   then i could take some really good pictures of saturn! genus! i remember seeing this before! its a cool idea! saturn is normally in the trees around here. -------------------- Meade ETX-125 Meade LXD55 mount Philips SPC900NC webcam Seymour Solar filter Backyard Observatory -Midlothian VA --Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave-- Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 8 registered and 6 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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