23 replies to this topic

[HighwayRob]

I have this 1979 Celestron C8 and a new 12MM eyepiece. Been tweaking the collumization.  Jupiter looks pretty cool. I can see brownish lines across the planet and a handful of bright moons.  The other planets look mostly like little white dots with Venus having phases.  My issue is I cannot seem to find Saturn.  I live on the West Coast of Florida an hour North of Tampa.  Internet says Saturn is in Aquarius, low in the South West sky just after sunset.  Not seeing it. I see the Moon and Jupiter up high, something bright below them, red dot to the North (Mars?) and another bright planet kind of NEast (Uranus?).   Not finding Saturn.   

Any suggestions?

[happylimpet]

Its quite near Venus - and pretty bright! Though its the faintest of the 'bright' planets. Have you got some kind of planetarium software?

[therealdmt]

At about 7:00p.m., try looking below and just a hair to the left of Venus, about halfway between Venus and the horizon. You’ll have a bit of time, but don’t wait too late. By 8:30, it will have set below the horizon, and it’s getting lower after sunset each day, so if the weather is good, get on it

 

It’s not bright at all compared to Venus or Jupiter or, these days, Mars, but it’s brighter than the stars in the area and you should see it after sunset slightly before the nearby stars start to appear in the gathering darkness. Be patient but persistant and you’ll find it (and it will be worth it). Good luck!

[JRG2]

The angle we see the rings on Saturn changes and we are seeing them from the side now. They look like a line that extends a little beyond the planet. So maybe you are seeing it but don't recognize it, especially if you expect to see the rings from the top or bottom like in most images. The seeing in Florida has also been poor recently and I've been having trouble finding it easily too.

[jupiter122]

Saturn is not particularly bright right now. It's about a hand-width below Venus in the West and can be hard to find if you don't know where to look, particularly in light-polluted suburban skies.  I suggest you get an app on your phone like SkyView and, with that, you won't have any trouble finding Saturn.

 

Tim

[SeattleScott]

If you are able to spot it, it will suck. Just way too low in the sky for a decent view.

[Japetus Eye]

It is not a good time to observe Saturn. Its elongation (apparent angular distance from the Sun) decreases day by day and in a few weeks it will become an object of the early mornings. In the photo you can see that, in fact, it is very low on the horizon after sunset, so to be able to see it you have to do so a few minutes after the Sun disappears over the horizon, still with the lights of the evening... It is not so simple because its magnitude has also already decreased above +1. But you should look for an observation place where the western horizon is completely clear of buildings, trees, etc. If it can be a high place and with a transparent atmosphere, even better. As it gets darker you will see that a point of light much more subtle to the naked eye than that of bright Venus, about 12º south of it, is defined. There you have Saturn. It is unmistakable because currently there are no stars in its vicinity with that brightness. Remember that now the rings are almost edge-on when seen from Earth, so they are not so showy.

 

 

The star you saw below Jupiter and the Moon was Aldebaran, Alpha Taurus. The bright orange dot rising above the horizon after sunset is Mars, yes. You'll identify it because it's now almost at a right angle to Castor and Pollux, Alpha and Beta Gemini. Uranus and Neptune can't be seen with the naked eye, you need to use your C8 or at least binoculars. Uranus is not far from the Pleiades and Neptune is relatively close to Venus. To be able to define their disk you'll need to load up about 200x in your telescope and have decent seeing. Please note that your telescope requires a long cooling time (at least 1 hour) to obtain optimal views at medium and high magnifications. Use applications such as these to navigate and orient yourself in the night sky:
https://theskylive.com/planetarium
https://stellarium-web.org/
Both are available for computers, smartphones and tablets and have a free version. Or use traditional planispheres or celestial charts.

[vtornado]

To my eye, it appears to have yellowish cast, not a stellar color.

 

If you have binos, you could scan for it.

Edited by vtornado, 07 February 2025 - 04:05 PM.

[Dave Mitsky]

Saturn is heading towards solar conjunction so it's getting smaller and smaller and is really not an impressive target currently with its rings becoming edge-on and with the toll that atmospheric extinction takes.

 

https://skyandtelesc...ric-extinction/

 

https://aty.sdsu.edu...n/extintro.html

Edited by Dave Mitsky, 08 February 2025 - 03:08 AM.

[Polyphemos]

Don’t let the imperfect get in the way of good enough. For me, if Saturn displays it’s rings, edge on or otherwise, it’s always fascinating and worth a look.

 

Begin your hunt at 6:45 PM. Locate Venus in the west and then move your gaze almost straight down, but a tiny bit to the left, of Venus to about midway between Venus and the horizon. That’s where Saturn is hiding.

 

 

Keep searching that area and as the sky becomes progressively darker it’s likely that Saturn will reveal itself to you. A pair of binoculars is a huge help, if you have some.

 

Sure, Saturn will look better in four or five years when the rings turn themselves toward us, but in the meantime Saturn is still the only planet in the universe with rings visible to us on earth so why not enjoy them every chance you get. There’s nothing else like it anywhere.

[sevenofnine]

I was surprised by Saturn's appearance   It looks like a planet with and arrow shot through it to me 

Edited by sevenofnine, 08 February 2025 - 11:24 AM.

[therealdmt]

I’m gonna speak up for Saturn, too. I got a very nice view of it last week after sunset. Depends on the day, and local conditions.

 

It’s still cool, even though not as good as when the rings are more open. But when it comes back around later in the year, the rings will be even more edge on, so I’m enjoying it now.

 

If it were me, I’d get on it (and when these clouds clear, I will). And then it will be gone for a while for us non-early risers (I probably won’t catch it again until some late night session in July, or as July is my worst month weather-wise for astronomy, maybe not until August). Accordingly, even if it’s less than ideal now, it’s still nice to have it around.

 

But, as has been mentioned by others, the situation is degrading day by day, so don’t wait too long

Edited by therealdmt, 08 February 2025 - 05:28 AM.

[Dave Mitsky]

Saturn and Mercury will be in conjunction on February 24th.  The two planets will be about 2 degrees apart.

https://spaceandtele...ary-24-2025.jpg

[Dave Mitsky]

Saturn will be at solar conjunction on Wednesday, March12th.

[Dave Mitsky]

A graph showing the change in Saturn's angular diameter, not counting its rings, for the year can be seen at https://www.curtrenz.com/saturn04.html

[Polyphemos]

A graph showing the change in Saturn's angular diameter, not counting its rings, for the year can be seen at https://www.curtrenz.com/saturn04.html

Curt has the best graphs and diagrams

[Dave Mitsky]

Here's a screen shot from Stellarium showing Saturn at 6:30 p.m. EST from a latitude of ~40 degrees north.  The Ringed Planet will be only some 14 degrees in altitude at that time.

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[HighwayRob]

Team,

 

Thank you for all the input. I have a feeling the trees are blocking my view of Saturn. I saw a small reddish looking thing just below and left of Venus in the west at 7:30, but I do not think it was Saturn. Just a white dot in the scope.  Been a bit cloudy and foggy in the morning west coast of mid Florida north of Tampa.  Scope is pretty heavy to move and laying down in my pickup bed does not seem like the thing to do. 

I will keep an eye on the weather and see if I have a better vantage point close by.

 

When is the next best viewing time for Saturn this year, regardless of ring position?  Where in the sky would it be at that time.

 

Thank you again for your support.

Rob

[Dave Mitsky]

When is the next best viewing time for Saturn this year, regardless of ring position?  Where in the sky would it be at that time.

Saturn will reach opposition on September 21 at 05:10 UT (1:10 a.m. EDT) in Pisces.  At opposition, Saturn will shine at magnitude 0.6 and subtend 19.4 arc seconds.  Its rings will be nearly edge-on with an inclination of only 1.8 degrees.

https://earthsky.org...brightest-best/

https://www.curtrenz.com/saturn02.html

 

 

[Dave Mitsky]

My last view of Saturn was on February 4th using the Naylor Observatory's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain.  Even with 17 inches of aperture, the Ringed Planet was hardly impressive at 170x.

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[Garyth64]

Rob said,

 

"Not seeing it. I see the Moon and Jupiter up high, something bright below them, red dot to the North (Mars?) and another bright planet kind of NEast (Uranus?)."

 

 

For your mention of seeing Uranus, you would not be seeing Uranus with your eye.  It was a star.

[Dave Mitsky]

Not seeing it. I see the Moon and Jupiter up high, something bright below them, red dot to the North (Mars?) and another bright planet kind of NEast (Uranus?).

Here's a Stellarium screen shot set for February 6th at 10:00 p.m. EST.  The red giant star Aldebaran is to the lower left of Jupiter.  The red giant Betelgeuse is to the far upper left.  Mars (not shown) is to the far upper left of Betelgeuse.

 

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[dmgriff]

I have this 1979 Celestron C8 and a new 12MM eyepiece. Been tweaking the collumization.  Jupiter looks pretty cool. I can see brownish lines across the planet and a handful of bright moons.  The other planets look mostly like little white dots with Venus having phases.  My issue is I cannot seem to find Saturn.  I live on the West Coast of Florida an hour North of Tampa.  Internet says Saturn is in Aquarius, low in the South West sky just after sunset.  Not seeing it. I see the Moon and Jupiter up high, something bright below them, red dot to the North (Mars?) and another bright planet kind of NEast (Uranus?).   Not finding Saturn.   

Any suggestions?

Sky Map is a google basic planetarium app that is very user friendly. It has a search feature. Hold your cell phone up and move across the sky.

 

https://play.google....rdroid&hl=en_US

Edited by dmgriff, 14 February 2025 - 12:56 PM.

[CHASLX200]

My last view of Saturn was on February 4th using the Naylor Observatory's 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain.  Even with 17 inches of aperture, the Ringed Planet was hardly impressive at 170x.

2 low in the bad seeing. Venus was snappy at 500x in the 7" Mak tonite.