If you are looking for a telescope that will provide you with impressive views of Saturn, I suggest the Apertura AD8. You might think that increasing the magnifying power of your telescope is the answer to seeing the Planet in detail, but this quickly turns into a blurry image as you begin to experience the effects of astronomical seeing. The apparent size of Saturn through a 4″ telescope (top) and 8″ telescope (bottom). Below, is an illustration shared by Sky & Telescope showing the differences in view from a 4″ aperture telescope, and an 8″ aperture. The size of the telescope and the eyepiece used will determine how Saturn will look for you. You can certainly enjoy seeing Saturn with your naked eye, but it will appear as a pale, bright star. In terms of objects in the night sky, planets are very small and will require optical devices capable of producing high-magnification views. The planet Saturn captured through an 11″ Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope. This picture was created using a monochrome camera and RGB filters. The photo below is a more recent picture of Saturn I took through my Celestron Edge HD 11 telescope. Saturn, as it looks through my Dobsonian telescope with a 2X Barlow lens attached. Be sure to check out my tips for photographing planets. This technique is called eyepiece projection astrophotography. I captured the photograph of Saturn shown below through my telescope eyepiece, using a point-and-shoot digital camera. For comparison, it never appears larger than the Planet Jupiter does at opposition. When you include the size of Saturn’s rings, the system grows to 2.25 times as wide as the disc. In its most favorable oppositions, the disc of Saturn is about 21 arcseconds in diameter. How Big Does Saturn Look Through a Telescope? Most of the variations in magnitude are due to the inclination of Saturn’s rings relative to the Sun and Earth. The mean apparent magnitude of Saturn is 0.46 with a standard deviation of 0.34. Saturn’s brightness ( apparent magnitude) from Earth varies over time. They may look like “bright stars” to the unaided eye, but looking through a telescope will reveal that they are in fact planets. This is helpful when trying to locate Saturn from your backyard. In general, the gas giant planets Saturn, and Jupiter are quite bright and easy to identify in the night sky. By 4 am, it has reached a high enough apparent altitude to comfortably view Saturn through a telescope. The Stellarium planetarium software will show you where and when to find Saturn from your location.Īt the time of writing, Saturn rises early in the morning from my latitude on Earth. This will show you exactly where to look for Saturn from your location. To find the current location of Saturn, I suggest using an astronomy app on your mobile phone with a planetarium simulator. Saturn is not always visible to everyone on Earth because sometimes it lies too close to the Sun from our vantage point on Earth to view at night. The position of Saturn in your night sky will also depend on your location on Earth. It is orbiting the Sun just as Earth is, except that it takes Saturn 29-years (Earth years, of course), to complete its orbital period around the Sun. The position of the planet Saturn in the night sky changes over time. It is the second-largest moon in the entire solar system.įor more information, check out Universe Today’s roundup of interesting facts about Saturn. Astronomers have discovered that Titan has a substantial atmosphere. Saturn has over 80 known moons, and 53 of them are officially named. Saturn’s rings are mostly comprised of ice particles, along with rocky interstellar debris and dust. The most famous feature of this planet is, of course, its beautiful ring system. It is the 6th planet from the Sun in our Solar System, and the second-largest planet overall. Saturn is a massive gas giant with an average radius of about nine times that of the Earth. This is what Saturn looked like the first time I saw it through a telescope. In this article, I’ll explain how you can see Saturn through a telescope yourself, and what to expect. I suggest using a 15mm eyepiece through a Dobsonian telescope ( here is the one I own and recommend) for the best chances of success. It is said that any small telescope is capable of viewing Saturn’s rings at 25X magnification. This affordable telescope had enough power and magnification to see Saturn’s rings, in all their glory. I first viewed the planet Saturn with a 4.5″ Dobsonian telescope from my backyard about 10 years ago. You won’t see a NASA quality image of Saturn using a backyard telescope, but I think you may be surprised at how satisfying a “real-time” view of this planet is. Seeing Saturn through a backyard telescope is an experience that everyone on Earth should be able to enjoy at least once in their lifetime. Video: Photographing Saturn at Opposition.
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