SATURN 2006/2007

A new Saturn season has begun!  With Cassini at Saturn, it is great to monitor the ringed planet again!  The northern hemisphere of Saturn is more visible now!   

All images were taken using a Celestron C11 SCT and a DMK 21BF04 camera.  All images are processed using Registax 4.

All these images were taken in my home at Banilad, Cebu City, Philippines!

You can also see my past images of Saturn at the ALPO Japan Kansai Branch site.

March 10, 2007

Here's a nice image of Saturn.  Notice the bands are very sharp!  Still no sign of any white or dark spots in this image.  The NNTZ and the SSTZ is notable bright.

Tethys is above Saturn's south pole.

 

March 6, 2007

Contrast was low this evening because of the almost full moon.  But seeing was excellent.

Note the two bands in the northern hemisphere.  The SEB and STB is quiet.  No sign of any dark or white spots.  Note that the NTrZ has become reddish lately.

 

February 22, 2007

Here's my best image of Saturn.  Note the disk details!  Most interesting are the bright zones in the northern hemisphere.  Note also the brightening of the SSTZ.  Is the brightening of the zones also an opposition effect?

Note the small white spot on the SEB just after the CM.

The Encke minima is visible in this image.

 

February 10, 2007

Here's an image of Saturn during Opposition day!  I was imaging with my buddy Tomio Akutsu and a friend from Japan Tomiyasu (see below).  Tomiyasu came over to Cebu from Japan just to see the Saturn Opposition here!!

The Seeliger Effect or Opposition Effect is at it's peak  The ring is very bright!  The disk itself is very pale and  there seems to be no spots visible in either the SEB or the STB.  Saturn was at the Zenith (about 85 deg at local midnight) when I took this image.

Note the NNTZ white line at the northern edge of Saturn.

 

February 7, 2007

Seeing was very good this evening.  This allowed me to get his very sharp image of Saturn. Note the very bright ring and the pale disk of Saturn compared to my earlier images below. This is the Seeliger Effect which occurs during opposition.  This year opposition will be on Feb 10.

Note also the Cassini division in front of Saturn's disk, you can see some parts of the disk through the CD!!  Again the SEB and STB of Saturn is quiet at this location.

 

February 6, 2007

Clear skies at last!  It had been wet and cold for the last few weeks.  Seeing was good this evening. 

Note the shadow of Saturn.  The ring shadow has disappeared while the disk shadow is getting smaller and smaller!  It's a few days before opposition!  The disk contrast is getting lower while the ring is very bright.  The opposition effect is about to to occur!

The SEB and STB  is quiet!  Note the NNTZ below.

 

January 17, 2007

Conditions were poor today.  I could hardly resolve the belts...  Hope to get better conditions soon.

 

January 15, 2007

3 weeks of clouds and rain gave way to clear skies. Seeing wasn't that great only around 6/10 but Saturn is getting bigger and bigger!  The shadow of Saturn and the ring is getting smaller.

 

December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas everyone.  Today I imaged with my buddy Tomio Akutsu.   Tomorrow he is flying home to Japan for a 2 week vacation.  Seeing wasn't as good this evening. 

 

December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas everyone.  It's Christmas Eve here in the Philippines.  Seeing was good this morning.  Note the details in NNTB.  The Southern Hemisphere belts are very resolved.

 
December 21, 2006

Merry Christmas everyone.  I finally had some clear skies.  Seeing was okay.    The image is not as good as my last one but the Encke minima is very visible in this image.  Note the hint of features at the NNTB.

After taking this image, I looked at the south eastern sky and found an old friend.  Jupiter is back but it is still very low in the sky.

 

December 12, 2006

After an exciting 2 weeks where we had a brush with Super Typhoon Durian and a near miss with Typhoon Utor, clear skies are back.  I was also sick after taking my last image probably due to flu and fatigue!

Condition was great this morning. The sky was very steady.  Note the northern hemisphere of Saturn gets more and more visible now.  The NNTZ is very prominent!  There are even details on the NNTB!!

The Southern hemisphere belts are getting clearer as we get near opposition and as Saturn gets bigger and bigger.  Note the white spot on the SEB to the right  of the CM.

This is my best image of Saturn!

 

November 27, 2006

Seeing was not great this morning at around 7/10 because of an incoming Typhoon Durian.  Sadly this system is expected to become a Super Typhoon in a day or two.  Luckily it won't hit my area, but the Northern Philippines might not be so lucky.

Tethys and Dione are visible in this image.  The NNTZ is still visible but very faint. This belt is so seeing dependent.  The northern hemisphere is still bluish. The crepe ring is very prominent in this image.

 

November 25, 2006

I was imaging with my buddy Tomio Akutsu this morning. Sadly conditions were horrible with seeing only around 6/10!!  Disk details are very blurry and the NNTZ is visible but not as distinct as when seeing is good.

Tethys is visible in this image but is faint and bloated because of bad seeing. 

 

November 22, 2006

Conditions were great this morning.  Lots of details in Saturn's disk.  I have now identified the "new band" close to the North Polar Region. This is the North North Temperate Zone.  This is the first time this feature is observed since 1998.  Is this feature brightening?  Note also the tiny bluish oval on top of the NNTZ.  Is this a storm or the shadow of Mimas?

Note also Tethys (top left) and Enceladus (lower left).

 

November 20, 2006

It was clear this morning and the best condition I have this season.  Saturn is about 72 deg above the horizon.  This is an LRGB image.

Note the bright band at the N3TB.  There are a lot of band details in this image!  There are hints of spots on the SEB.

 

November 4, 2006

It was very cloudy this morning.  The sky did not clear until a few minutes before sunrise.  Here's an LRGB image of Saturn.   The blue channel is still very noisy. 

The Cassini Division still goes all around while the C ring is prominent in this image.

 

October 31, 2006

This is my first image of Saturn this season.  Seeing was okay but transparency was not very good.  Saturn is still low at around 50deg above the horizon when I took this image.

The northern hemisphere of Saturn is now more visible and it is still bluish in color.

 

   
   

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Copyright 2005-06 Christopher Go (christone@pacific.net.ph)