It has been a beautifully clear and sunny day – perfect weather for a barbecue. We dined and chatted with our guests as the afternoon turned to dusk and then the stars began to wink in the night sky.
After everyone had gone and the clearing up was mostly complete, Saturn had ascended above the houses across the street. It’s been a few months since last I saw it. I wanted to know if the change in our relative positions had altered the view of the planet’s rings.
It had.
Last year when I looked, the rings were edge-on, a thin line drawn across the centre of the pale sphere. But tonight — just a few minutes ago — I could see the rings dipping towards us, angled so that the sweep around Saturn was clearly visible.
I took a picture with the camera on my phone and it came our far better that I expected.
Ringed Saturn
The view in the eyepiece is even sharper. If you have binoculars or a telescope of your own and are still up, go outside.
very nice! was this through a scope or directly from zooming your phone? i’ve been waiting for a clear night to get one here. i got a pic of jupiter a while ago and was really surprised to get some of its moons.
WOW! Tripod with a 400mm lens, that’s very impressive. Moons and all.
Thinks… must try this (and Saturn too) – I have a 300mm zoom that just might haul these planets in. 🙂
Nice Jupiter pic. I snapped Saturn tonight just by holding my iPhone over the eyepiece of my telescope.
thanks for looking! from your phone over the eyepiece? you have some really steady hands! :O)
Saturn always makes quite an impression. My first sighting was from a freezing mountain top in the Dolomites on Feb 1st 2002, in a stunningly clear sky and through a pair of extremely fancy Zeiss binoculars (borrowed). I see it more often these days thanks to pUniverse – must keep a look out tonight. Great pic too.
Ooh – tempted by the pUniverse app even though I have already shelled out for Starmap Pro, easily the most expensive piece of software on my iPhone.
Wow. Just wow.
Thanks – my favourite kind of comment. 😉
Have another one. Wow.
[yes, I know I commented on the Flickr pic already :)]
I’d love to compare a shot with your “real” camera to the phone photo.
I’d like to try but my real camera is just auto-focus and struggles when there in only a single small object in the eyepiece.
However, someone suggested using a web-cam to take multiple photos that can be combined to get a high-res image. When I have a bit of time, I’m going to have a look to see if I might be able to go down that route…