Saturn 4-11-08 Part #1

Greg LaFlamme

What should you do when the moon is waxing but the sky is clear, steady and Saturn is at Zenith? You get out your handy-dandy 29 Lb, 10" f/4.5, cool it down and decorate it with a Tak 5mm LE. I had to come inside briefly to point out that Saturn is putting on a pretty good show tonight. It's not the best night here in Alameda, seeing changes from very sharp and steady to fairly messy quickly. There is probably something like 1 out of five seconds of usable seeing suitable for high power but hey, thaztall I need:-) @ 228x, The Cassini division, Titan, Tethys, Rhea, Dione are easy. In times of real steadiness, @ 457x, (with a much narrower ratio of steadiness), I can pick out Enceladus. I know where Mimas is supposed to be but I still haven't bagged it. I've seen it in my 15" on steadier nights and I'm not sure if its beyond my reach of my 10" grab and go on this night. Maybe seeing will improve in the next hour? I'll complete my report in the morning;-)

GML