Contains:  Solar system body or event
Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images, Niall MacNeill
Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images, Niall MacNeill

Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

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Acquisition details

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Description

For a change the seeing was excellent and I made 11 RGB runs of 90 secs per colour channel. I then went on to Methane Band and again did 11 runs. The sensitivity of the QHY5III200M camera in IR meant that even with the 2X barlow, I was able to get an excellent signal for the Methane Band filter run and this is by far my best image of Saturn at that wavelength. However, I feel I could do better with the barlow removed, which I will try the next time the seeing allows.

Here the Methane Band image is accessed via the mouse-over to compared it with the RGB image. The good seeing means that considerable detail is resolved in the latter image, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere of the planet. This capture was made 2 days after opposition and the Seeliger Effect was still evident, as can be seen by the elevated brightness of the rings. This enhanced brightness is due to the absence of shadows on the ice chunks that make up the rings, both because we see them face on and their shdows go directly behind them and cannot be seen falling on their neighbours. The other effect is due to coherent back scattering, which is also seen to make the Earth's Moon brighter when full.

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  • Final
    Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images, Niall MacNeill
    Original
  • Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images, Niall MacNeill
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Description: Methane Band image

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Saturn 2023-08-29 RGB & Methane Band images, Niall MacNeill