These  images are north up and were taken by my C11 mounted on an AP900GTO mount  with a DMK 21F04 camera.

For info on Saturn's belts and zones please click this link.

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

SATURN 2007	SATURN 2009
SATURN 2008

Had to take a quick image of the SED.  Took this image early in the evening but still have baby chores to do.  Seeing was variable but there was a moment of good seeing.

The SED is still very prominent.  Saturn seems like the opposite of Jupiter now.  Saturn has a prominent SEB and non-existent NEB while the opposite is current situation of Jupiter.

Seeing was variable this evening. 

The SED is back!  It's very bright.  Note that there are two distinct spots in the SED.   The bright spot is following the faint spot.

Rhea is moving towards Saturn while Titan is moving out from behind Saturn.  Note the 13:44UT image where Titan is peeking out the northwestern edge of Saturn.

The SEB is dark. Note the white spot in the SEB.

The video of this event can be seen in this link.

Seeing was excellent this evening!

The SED is in transit.  The SED is still bright.  Is it reviving?  Note the bright streak preceding the SED.  Is this the "wake" of the SED?

The SEB is still very dark.  It is also interesting that the south polar region has two bright bands.

Please go to this link to get the video of the SED transit.

I was hoping to image the April 15 Titan transit but I was rained out!  Condition was perfect this evening.  Clouds rolled in at around 9:00pm local time so I was fortunate to image the transit.  There are 4 more Titan transit all of which are visible in the Pacific.  The last will be on July 4.

The dark spot on Saturn is Titan!    Note the rifts on the SEB.  Also visible is the spot on the STrZ just north of Titan.  You can see it better in the video.

The SED can be seen in the bottom image.  Note the SED is spread out and it is still bright.

You can see the video from this link.

Seeing was again  excellent this evening.  But I had to deal with clouds.  Transparency was variable because of this.

The SED is fading.  It is also elongated now and seems to have split into two.  Note another white oval north of the SED.   You can see this better in this video.

The SEB is still very dark.    The NPR seems to be lightening up.  It was very dark just a few weeks ago. 

The Cassini Spacecraft will image the SED on April 29.   I would like to request imagers to image the SED during this day!

Seeing was excellent this evening. 

The SED is still visible but fading.  It seems to be dispersing and getting wider.    Note the small white spot north and left of the SED just below the SEB!

The SEB is very dark while the NEB is virtually non-existent.  This is basically the opposite of Jupiter now!!  In Jupiter, the SEB is gone while the NEB is dark and wide!

Dione can be seen below the ring while Rhea is to the right.    Note Dione's shadow just leaving Saturn's disk on the first image!

You can see a wmv video of the sequence on the left.

Seeing and transparency was good this evening.

The SED is very bright now!  It's brighter than it was 5 days ago. Tethys is moving towards Saturn.

Seeing and transparency was great this evening.

Note the 3 moons to the right of Saturn.  Tethys is on top, Enceladus is the faint moon in the middle and Rhea is at the bottom.

There are a lot of belt details in Saturn.  The SEB is the most prominent.

The sky was overcast at around 8:30pm local time.  I was about to give up but when I went out around 9:00pm, there was a clearing. Seeing was excellent but transparency was variable.  I had to stop around 9:30pm because clouds rolled back in.

I had to image tonight because Georg Fisher made an alert that the SED had been detected by Cassini.  True enough, the dragon storm is back and it's very bright!  There is even a dark "wake" that  seem to be associated with the SED. 

Titan is above Saturn.  On the 15th this month, it will transit the SPR of Saturn.  This will occur between 11-14UT.  This will be a double transit with Tethys.  As a bonus, the SED will be just north of Titan during this event!!

Seeing was excellent this evening although transparency wasn't perfect because of haze.

Here are two ways of doing Saturn.  The upper image uses simple RGB but at a longer integration time.  The lower image uses LRGB but with a shorter integration time.  (1 minute less).  I was able to do a luminosity because Saturn was quite high here.  Which do you think is better?

Rhea is the moon on the left.

Happy Easter everyone!  Seeing was excellent, but it deteriorated as the night went on because of clouds.

This is the region around the SED, but there is no more hint of the SED. Note the SEBn, there seems to be some activity there.  The red bands of the Northern hemisphere are still faint.

It was overcast this evening.  Fortunately, I had a break in the clouds though it was good for only one image.  Seeing was excellent but transparency was rather poor.

There is a hint of the remnant of the SED.  Though it can only be seen in blue filter.

Tethys is just north of the rings white Titan is close to the south pole of Saturn.  In 16 days, Titan will transit Saturn's southern hemisphere.

Seeing was good at the start of the session but deteriorated after.  Transparency wasn't great because of thin clouds.

The SED can still be seen but it's very low contrast now.  Tethys can be seen approaching Saturn.

Seeing was better this evening but transparency wasn't great. 

The rings are darker now and the Seeliger effect has ceased.  So the Seeliger effect can be seen +/- 3 days of opposition.

Seeing was okay this evening but the transparency wasn't great.  There was a haze over the city.

The Seeliger effect is still visible.  But it is not as bright as yesterday. 

Its opposition day!  But it was a bit frustrating this evening.  The sky was overcast early this evening.  The clouds broke at around 9pm and I had to image in between clouds till around 9:50pm after which the sky cleared.

Titan can be seen approaching Saturn.  Starting April 15, Titan will transit Saturn for 5 times until July 4.  This rare event won't happen again till the next ring plane crossing!

The rings are very bright due to the Seeliger Effect. 

The SED can be seen but the contrast is very low.  It is more diffuse now.  The SEB is very dark red.   Both poles are still dark.

It was mostly cloudy today.  It cleared for a few minutes at around 9:45pm local time.   It was enough to get a couple of shots of Saturn.

The rings are very bright now.  This phenomenon is called the Seeliger effect or the Opposition effect.  Saturn goes into opposition on March 21.  This phenomenon can be seen a few days before and after opposition.

Note the dark red SEB.  On the NEB, it is rather faint but the south of the NEB is very bright.  Both poles are very dark.

Seeing was rather poor this evening.  Saturn was still low and I was unable to cool my OTA because of rain.

The SED is still visible, but it is not as bright as on the 13th.  It is also more diffuse and larger. 

Rhea can be seen moving towards Saturn below the ring.

Saturn was almost at the zenith when I took these images.  Seeing was good.

The Saturn Electrostatic Disturbance (SED)  is really brightening now!  It is much more prominent than when I last imaged it. 

Both the SPR and NPR are very dark.  The SEB is very prominent while the NEB looks faint.  There are a lot of band details especially in the northern hemisphere.

Check out the wmv video I made for this session.

Seeing was good this evening.  I was finally able to capture a hint of the SED.

Rhea and it's shadow is in transit while Dione can be seen on the right moving away from Saturn.

The Cassini division can be seen on the edge.  There is also a hint of the Crepe ring.

There are a lot of details in Saturn as we approach opposition.  The SEB is very red while the NPR is also dark.  The SED is just south of Rhea's shadow.  The SED seems to be prominent again and the radio anomaly has been detected by the Cassini spacecraft reported by Georg Fischer .  The SED's location is around III: 0.

Seeing was okay this evening.  I had hoped to image the disturbance that Georg Fischer mentioned but it seems that I was at the wrong CM.

But as a consolation you can see Dione and it's shadow transiting the South Equatorial Belt(SEB).  Titan can be seen above Saturn.  Next month it will resume transiting the surface of Saturn.  Note Tethys on the left.    Mimas is suppose to be just south of the ring but this moon is beyond the resolving power of my C11.

I have made some video (wmv) on the moon dance.   Check them out below:

mono

color

Here's my first image of Saturn this season. 

The SEB is very dark.  The color of both hemispheres are almost the same but the north is slightly darker.  Lots of belt details on both hemispheres.  The NPR is dark.  Dione can be seen on the right.