The rings of Saturn

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:38:26 +0100, "JG" no.spam@me wrote:

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

50x ought to show rings. Saturn will be tiny, but you will see the
rings. The appearance will not be star like at all.

Greetings,

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Thanks
JG

Greetings,

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".


For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Thanks
JG

You should be able to do it at 50X with a decent quality 60mm scope and
eyepiece.
One problem right now is that Saturn is relatively low on the horizon so you
are viewing through a fair amount of the atmosphere, this disturbs the image
and reduces its sharpness.

jon

JG wrote:

Greetings,

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn,
but, to my dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I
saw was a very bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the minimum amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Thanks
JG


30x would be sufficient under good sky conditions and if Saturn is far
enough from the horizon (at least 20 degrees or more).


--
--
Martin
"Photographs From the Universe of Amateur Astronomy"
http://home.earthlink.net/~martinhowell

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn,
but, to my dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I
saw was a very bright yellow "star".

If you couldnt at LEAST get a hint of a disk/rings at that power either...

You REALLLY werent pointing at saturn....

You werent close to being properly focused...

Your scope optics aint so hot....

Saturn was really close to the horizion...

The magnification you calculated AINT what your getting (double check this)....

Or your eyesight aint so hot....

take care and keep trying!

Blll

JG wrote:
Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Sure. A magnification of 30x should do the trick. You should at least
see that the rings form a wide oval envelope around Saturn. I suspect
that you aren't pointing to Saturn but rather Pollux (beta Geminorum),
which is in the vicinity and is spectral class K0--that is, a yellow star.

Another possibility is that you aren't properly focused, but that seems
quite less likely to me.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

That's more than enough magnification to see the rings separate from Saturn.
You mentioned it was an improvised scope; I suspect your optical quality is
not good enough, the magnification calculation was off, Saturn was too close
to the horizon, or any combination of the above, although I personally
suspect the first two are the prime culprits.

--
Yours Truly,
--- Dave

----------------------------------------------------------------------
'raid if you're afraid you'll have to overlook it.
Besides, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"JG" no.spam@me wrote in message
...
Greetings,

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to
my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Thanks
JG

In article , JG no.spam@me wrote:
Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

No one yet seems to have considered that maybe you mistook another star for
Saturn.

You were looking early in the morning, right? What time? 3-4 a.m. or so?

Mojo
--
Morris Jones *
Monrovia, CA

http://www.whiteoaks.com

No one yet seems to have considered that maybe you mistook another star for
Saturn.


Several have suggested this, I think it makes the most sense. Saturn is only
about 6 degrees from Pollux, both are quite similar in Magnitude at this time
(0.9 vs 1.16.)

Its an easy mistake...

jon

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:38:26 +0100, "JG" no.spam@me wrote:

Greetings,

Last night I could finnaly use my improvised telescope on Saturn, but, to my
dissapointment, with it's max. amplification (50x) all I saw was a very
bright yellow "star".

For an aperture of 60mm, can anyone tell me the *minimum* amp. needed to
separate Saturn from it's rings?

Thanks
JG


Beginners tend to be dazzled by the brightness of planets when they
first see them in a telescope. The trick is to try to view for a
while, to let you eyes adapt to the high surface brightness of the
planet. Then, you'll begin to see the detail, unless of course there
is a problem with your scope. Failing this, jumping the power to
100x will likely achieve what your looking for so pick up a barlow
or another eyepiece.
-Rich