January 29, 2009

Saturn

I left the 4" scope outside last night so that this morning all of its lenses would be of equal temperature. It focuses much better that way. Saturn was still high in the sky when I looked around 5:45 am. At 120x, Saturn was a big ball with a line through it---well, sort of a line. The rings are not edge-on now but tipped a little. The earth crossed through the plane of the rings about a month ago. On one side of the line which is the rings, right where they crossed the planet's face, a sharp, black line now plainly appears---the shadow of the rings on the planet itself. Titan and at least one other moon were easily visible, following the planet like a posse.

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