Saturn

[Tprspouse]

My sister just told me to go outside with my telescope because Saturn and Earth are close and you can see the rings, etc. etc. Well....either I am a freaking idiot or I can't see any rings! I saw the craters on the moon and Saturn just looked like a yellowish bright star. ?!?! I had to come in after an hour of sitting on my icy steps in pajamas!

Has anyone tried to see Saturn and/or knows what they're doing with their telescope?

[Chiefy_Brown]

hi spouse m8 !!

I haven't got a clue about telescopes, but I get Astronomy mag EVERY MONTH and I am fascinated by SPACE and our planets, but regrettably I've never got down to buying the kit

hey do you remember that classic Kirk Douglas film SATURN 5 ??

what a brilliant film that was, started off real cool with a base on a moon of Saturn manned by Kirk Douglas and his pretty missus
one day a scientist lands there with his "robot"
TOO MUCH

[Mike Tx]

We have a 40x power telescope, and with that you can barely see the rings of Saturn. It's too far away. We can see the mountain tops on the moon with it, and it looks very desolate.

[Tprspouse]

I don't think my telescope is powerful enough then. The most I have is 30. Dammit!!!!!!!! I wonder if I can find different eye pieces somewhere. I want the kids (and this big kid) to see Saturn before it's even FURTHER away than the closest it'll ever be in a long time right now.

Thanks for that tidbit of info, it helps.

Oh and it's my son's telescope. i just love it!

[Chiefy_Brown]

Yeah but what about Saturn 5 ? The missus, the robot, Kirk Douglas ?

Mike TX
you can see the mountain tops of the moon? SHEEESH that is powerful, BTW did you ever see any american flags on there or landers ?

[dubya]

Cheify...don't you know, we was never there. It was all done in a hollywood movie studio.

[Mike Tx]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chiefy_Brown:
Yeah but what about Saturn 5 ? The missus, the robot, Kirk Douglas ?

Mike TX
you can see the mountain tops of the moon? SHEEESH that is powerful, BTW did you ever see any american flags on there or landers ?

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Well, the thing has something called a teleconverter that doubles the "power" of it, but at the expense of clarity.

Getting a good look at the moon was pretty cool. I'd guess it looked about like it would from a low orbit, but that's just a guess.

I never saw anything on the surface though, except a sign that said "Yankee go home, and take your space junk with you!" .

One thing many don't realize, and I did not either, is that you have to keep constantly moving the telescope to keep what you are looking at in view, because the moon is moving very fast, along with everything else, so having a good equatorial mount helps in that area. And since the earth is moving fast as well, the moon, being close to Earth, seems to move quick.

Even when we look at Jupiter, which appears about the size of a fifty cent peice, it moves fairly quick. But what's really cool about Jupiter is that you can see the four Gallilean moons, and they move around it fast enough so that if you look long enough you can see them in different places.

As far as Saturn, best I could see it was that it was about the size of a quarter with something hazy around the edges of it. If I didn't know about the rings I would not have known what it was. I can't see the Cassinni gaps or any other gaps in the rings either.

It is amazing though to look at that stuff. Makes you think.

The telescope is a "Jason" bought in 1986 for about 250.00. There's probably much better stuff today. And there are different lenses and stuff available. I'm sure the internet has anything you'd want to know on this subject.

[ 12-18-2002, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: Mike Tx ]

[Tprspouse]

quote:

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you have to keep constantly moving the telescope to keep what you are looking at in view, because the moon is moving very fast, along with everything else, so having a good equatorial mount helps in that area.

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You aint kiddin! I was just looking at the moon and I couldn't keep up with the darn thing. It gets very frustrating when it's about 10 degrees out.

Here's some good and bad news....I actually have the capability to see Saturn, BUT the barlow lense is missing which will magnify 3x more. I've torn the house apart looking for it.

I'd love to learn more and eventually get a really nice telescope. The one I have is a Polaris that my sister gave my Son for his birthday.

[Jim Burnes]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike Tx:
[QUOTE]As far as Saturn, best I could see it was that it was about the size of a quarter with something hazy around the edges of it.

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Mike,

I got this photo of Saturn last night, using a telescope duct-taped to a disposable 35mm Kodak.

My Saturn photo taken 16 Dec 02.

Jim Burnes

[Mike Tx]

Great photo Jim, but why are the poles slightly flatened, as they appear in your picture?

[Jim Burnes]

There are no Poles on Saturn ,Mike. There are two or three Russians, but no poles.

[Mike Tx]

Jim, it's the gravity of the situation. If they were Indians, it would not matter. You are so silly sometimes.

Jim Burnes eats worms.

[Jim Burnes]

Mike,

If there were Indians on Saturn, we would power it up and get the hell out of this system. We've learned not to give even one inch to you Yonega guys

Worms taste best breaded and fried

Jim Burnes

[Mike Tx]

Warp speed, brother.

[Jim Burnes]

I'm offended now! We are pulling Saturn out asap.

BTW: You highjacked this thread, and I feel it for the best that I report you to O.com for Conduct Unbecoming a Transmission Repairman.

Jim Burnes