Occultation of Saturn
To observe the occultation of Saturn by the Moon, I set up the 8" dob using the 10mm eyepiece which I found gave the best magnification to see the detail on Saturn but still be able to see the approaching dark side of the Moon.
As the Moon slowly approached the planet, the dark side could be seen as a grey shape against the darker sky. I could not make out any detail except the crater Grimaldi. Although the approach appeared deceptively slow, the disappearance was quick. The time between first contact and complete occultation was only a few seconds.
Contact happened on the North West of the planet so that the Western part of the ring and the North of the planet touched the edge of the moon almost simultaneously. Contact happened between Grimaldi and the South Pole of the Moon. Somewhere near Schickard but I cannot be sure as I could not see any detail on the Moon. Titan which was trailing the planet on the Eastern side disappeared some three minutes after Saturn.
Occultation was to last between 21:55 and 22:55 local time. I used up that hour to observe the lunar surface especially the area around Theophilus which, together with the nearby Cyrillus and Catharina,was especially striking in the lighting conditions. I also observed the asteroid Vesta and the globular cluster M5. This appeared magnificent in spite of the moonlight and the light pollution. At magnifictions of x120 and x200 many stars were resolved and looked like a sprinkling of shimmering diamonds.
It was now time to wait for the reappearance of Saturn. This was slightly more tricky as I did not know the exact spot where it would emerge. I had simulated on the computer that it would appear somewhere around the area of the crater Langrenus. On cue, It suddenly appeared at the Southern end of the Mare Smythii emerging with the Western end of the ring first. Titan reappeared after it with the exact time of its reappearance difficult to determine due to the brightness of the lunar surface.
The striking contrast between the different sizes of the two objects and the rough texture of the Moon compared to the delicate detail of the ringed planet made this observation especially interesting.
As the Moon slowly approached the planet, the dark side could be seen as a grey shape against the darker sky. I could not make out any detail except the crater Grimaldi. Although the approach appeared deceptively slow, the disappearance was quick. The time between first contact and complete occultation was only a few seconds.
Contact happened on the North West of the planet so that the Western part of the ring and the North of the planet touched the edge of the moon almost simultaneously. Contact happened between Grimaldi and the South Pole of the Moon. Somewhere near Schickard but I cannot be sure as I could not see any detail on the Moon. Titan which was trailing the planet on the Eastern side disappeared some three minutes after Saturn.
Occultation was to last between 21:55 and 22:55 local time. I used up that hour to observe the lunar surface especially the area around Theophilus which, together with the nearby Cyrillus and Catharina,was especially striking in the lighting conditions. I also observed the asteroid Vesta and the globular cluster M5. This appeared magnificent in spite of the moonlight and the light pollution. At magnifictions of x120 and x200 many stars were resolved and looked like a sprinkling of shimmering diamonds.
It was now time to wait for the reappearance of Saturn. This was slightly more tricky as I did not know the exact spot where it would emerge. I had simulated on the computer that it would appear somewhere around the area of the crater Langrenus. On cue, It suddenly appeared at the Southern end of the Mare Smythii emerging with the Western end of the ring first. Titan reappeared after it with the exact time of its reappearance difficult to determine due to the brightness of the lunar surface.
The striking contrast between the different sizes of the two objects and the rough texture of the Moon compared to the delicate detail of the ringed planet made this observation especially interesting.
posted by Albireo at 11:31 PM
4 Comments:
Sounds like you had some good viewing that night :)
Had a great sight here in the UK with the past few nights been clear but this bank holiday weekend will be cloudy as usual. Hope you have better luck than me.
Mark
Where i live, southern Michigan, Omega Centuri currently transits at 0.4 degrees altitude. How high was it for you?
I live at latitude 35.913°N. Omega Centauri culminates at a respectable height of 6.6 degrees. However it is lost in the light pollution and haze to the South. I really must go to a place with a good South horizon at new moon.
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