[Friends_of_SSASTROS] A Quick Note About Saturn

[James Boyadjian]

Thank you.


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone


On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, 2:01 PM, Mike McCabe <cartech2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Greetings Fellow Enthusiasts,
This is just a quick note to remind you that if you're interested in seeing Saturn one more time for this current evening apparition, you may want to take advantage of the next clear afternoon presented to us.
I got out yesterday afternoon with the express intent of doing just that, and although the effort was successful I noted a couple of interesting things.
One is that Saturn has dimmed to the point (+.9m) where it's getting difficult to find in a twilight sky. I mention this because that's likely to be the sky you'll be working with if you want any altitude at all during your observation. Having an accurate altitude and azimuth in the moment will help with locating it. Your phone app can provide this, then your phone compass should get you in the ballpark as far as azimuth goes. For altitude some phones accommodate an altimeter, like iPhones, but I don't think Androids do. There are other ways, which may be a subject for a brief discussion at a meeting.
You'll want all the altitude you can get, because even though the planet will be visible in a darker sky as twilight fades, the lower altitude of it will result in a squiggly observation down there due to the poor seeing associated with looking through thousands of miles of Earth's atmosphere. I noted that the seeing degraded noticeably as the planet dropped beneath the 20° mark.
Believe it or not, even after having seen the ringed gas giant countless times over many years, there's still a thrill in see it anew. Do try to take one last look before it drops into the Sun's glare for the winter and becomes an early morning object in the spring.
Besides, it's on the club observing objectives list for January, and if you don't do it you run the risk of being put on the club "B" list. That's another subject for a brief discussion at a meeting.  ;-)
Keep Looking Up!
Mike McCabe


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