Some cool Saturn rings images:

Saturn Rings In New Year


Image by MarkGregory007
January 1, 2004

Photographed through my telescope. Hundreds of video images stacked and processed with software to exhibit details.

Equipment: Meade LX-90 telescope, Philips ToUcam 640×480 webcam, 26mm lens, camera adapter, Registax software, Photoshop Elements.

In this photo Saturn’s rings are as open as they can possibly be. Saturn’s rings open and close on a 15-year cycle.

You can clearly see the gap between Saturn’s two largest rings. This is called the Cassini Division, named after a French astronomer, Giovanni Cassini, who discovered the ring separations in 1675.

About Saturn…

There is no doubt that Saturn is the telescopic showpiece of our solar system. This glorious gas giant always illicits a “wow” response when observed through a telescope. When Saturn’s rings are favorably tilted towards the earth they provide a 3-D effect that can seldom be observed with any other planetary body. In 2004 the view was extremely favorable.

On New Years Eve 2003, Saturn reached what astronomers refer to as opposition. This means is was exactly opposite the sun as seen from earth. That night Saturn came to within 748.3 million miles of us. It will not orbit this close again until January of 2034 – 30 years from now.

To the naked eye Saturn appears as a bright yellow spot, about the size of a large star, shining in the eastern sky. When viewed through a modest department store telescope a fuzzy image of its rings can be seen. For a better view you should observe Saturn through a quality telescope of 4-inches or larger. Then, you should see Saturn’s “Cassini Division,” a black gap that separates Saturn’s two largest rings. You may also see one or more of Saturn’s moons.

Saturn is 760 times larger than the Earth and is about 850 million miles from the Sun. For comparison, Earth is 93 million. The planet is a gas giant without a solid surface. Saturn’s rings are made of small particles of space debris and ice from water. To put the rings’ size in prospective, they would just fit in the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Throughout 2004 Saturn’s rings were as open as they will ever be. These rings open and close on a 15 year cycle. For sky viewers the rings in 2004 were an awesome sight. From 2004 on the rings became less and less observable.

copyright – Mark Mathosian

saturn_rings


Image by Royalty-free image collection

Tags: Cool, images, Rings, Saturn  |  Posted under Saturn  |    No Comments