Observation Data
Location: Atlanta, GA (33.7384° N, 84.4234° W)
Date and Time: 2023-09-18, 22:20 – 22:57 EDT
Sky conditions: Seeing – Good, Transparency – Mag 3
Instrument: Celestron C8 SCT @f/20, Aperture 203.3mm, Focal length: 2023
Mount: Advanced VX
Eyepiece: N/A (Imaging)
Reticle Device: N/A
Imaging Equipment: ZWO ASI 120MM-S, 2x Barlow, ZWO filter wheel, Astronomik ProPlanet 642 BP IR-pass filter
Image type and sensor: CMOS, AR0130CS 1/3″ sensor
Image capture details: IR: Start capture: 22:49, End capture: 22:51, Exposure: 83.624ms, Gain: 70, best 20% stacked of 1436 frames. Software: ASICap, ASIVideoStack
Project Objectives
At first glance, the face of Saturn’s disk seems rather boring, a bland creamy-yellow ball. Less than half the apparent diameter of Jupiter with proportionately duller markings, Saturn requires diligent study and a tranquil night of seeing. The greater your observing skill or equipment, the more subtle the details you will see.
You should be able to tell that one hemisphere is decidedly darker than the other. Can you determine which one? Belts, zones, and spots can sometimes be glimpsed through the planet’s top layer of obscuring haze. They are subtle. What do you see? Include observation data and impressions.
Impressions
I used a 642 BP IR filter to help bring out some surface details and improve seeing. The darker hemisphere is currently the southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, the belts appear darker in color and the zones are lighter in color. The C Ring can be seen obscuring the disk around the Equatorial Zone. I could not make out any subtler details on the disk.