See Saturn in Binoculars.

Missourian

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Aug 30, 2008
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Got the el cheapo telescope out last night to see Saturn...the rings were just barely visible in 7x35 binoculars.

Saturn.png


Where to look...straight south roughly halfway up the sky ^^^

Saturn 2.png


What you'll see in binoculars ^^^

Saturn 3.png


What you'll see in a cheap department store 50mm refractor telescope.
Don't buy a new one, they are junk...but $10 to $15 bucks for a cast off is well worth the money for planetary viewing.

Jupiter and Venus are also due west in the early evening.
 
If buying used optics I suggest taking a peek through it first. Might be 'cast off' because a cracked or foggy lens. :)
 
Seeing things 'live' as in stepping outside and looking up is much more satisfying I find. Love sitting out and noting the first stars. Even if online there's infinitely superior versions to be had, seeing it in person as it were is superior in its' own way.
 
Got the el cheapo telescope out last night to see Saturn...the rings were just barely visible in 7x35 binoculars.

View attachment 44413

Where to look...straight south roughly halfway up the sky ^^^

View attachment 44416

What you'll see in binoculars ^^^

View attachment 44417

What you'll see in a cheap department store 50mm refractor telescope.
Don't buy a new one, they are junk...but $10 to $15 bucks for a cast off is well worth the money for planetary viewing.

Jupiter and Venus are also due west in the early evening.

I enjoy setting in my backyard...enjoying a beer and looking at the stars and planets. When a storm comes in of an evening...especially right after dark, I enjoy taking in the lightening show. I can watch a good lightening show forever.

On clear nights - I even catch a satellite passing overhead sometimes. ( heavens-above.com......daily predictions for satellites ). Russian Communication and navigation satellites, Rockets, US Navy Surveillance Satellites........ and a host of other satellites I have recorded on my I-phone "Notes" as viewed. I have even seen Iridium Flares, which is interesting.

Without the stars.......where would we be?


Shadow 355
 
I've had fun in the past doing digital astrophotography. Doesn't cost a ton to get into, and one can get some pretty amazing results with just a little work.
A digital camera that can shoot in RAW format is the most expensive part. The rest is done on any home PC of reasonable power.
I've also had some luck using my Sony H5 with a 1.7x extender for planets - got some good pics of Jupiter with the 4 Galilean satellites. It was easy to tell what it was with no post-processing. Saturn didn't turn out quite as good, but almost as good as the 2nd shot in the OP.
Without the stars.......where would we be?
Lost.
 
Seeing things 'live' as in stepping outside and looking up is much more satisfying I find. Love sitting out and noting the first stars. Even if online there's infinitely superior versions to be had, seeing it in person as it were is superior in its' own way.
Live?

You mean tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, or trillions of years ago "live"?
 
Suspension Arena

Of all those wonderful planets in our neat little solar system, Saturn continues to amaze with its strange gravitational 'tilt,' creating an eerie suspension of matter that forms those incredible seemingly perfect rings.

There are a handful of things that stir our fancy about the shape of perception: Jell-O, firefly frequency, 3D glasses, Saturn's rings, double-rainbows, etc.

Why do people think Steve Jobs was 'immature' to call his company Apple Computers?


:afro:
 
Seeing things 'live' as in stepping outside and looking up is much more satisfying I find. Love sitting out and noting the first stars. Even if online there's infinitely superior versions to be had, seeing it in person as it were is superior in its' own way.
Live?

You mean tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, or trillions of years ago "live"?

Perhaps in terms of stars, but light from Saturn only takes 1hr:07min to get here.
 
Got the el cheapo telescope out last night to see Saturn...the rings were just barely visible in 7x35 binoculars.

View attachment 44413

Where to look...straight south roughly halfway up the sky ^^^

View attachment 44416

What you'll see in binoculars ^^^

View attachment 44417

What you'll see in a cheap department store 50mm refractor telescope.
Don't buy a new one, they are junk...but $10 to $15 bucks for a cast off is well worth the money for planetary viewing.

Jupiter and Venus are also due west in the early evening.
In the morning the last two days I've seen a bright light next to the moon. This is after the sun has come up. What could it be? It turns out it's Saturn. And you might be able to see it tomorrow morning.

Tonight | EarthSky
 
I have a really good pair of military 10x50 binoculars, and can see the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter with them. It really makes you think when you can view these things like that.
 
Had a neighbor who had one of those giant scopes hooked up to a computer.
All he had to do was get a fix on a star and the rest was done through star maps.
Type in the coordinates and it would take care of the rest,even tracking.
It was cool as hell!!!
If I remember correctly he spent around ten grand for the thing.
 
Had a neighbor who had one of those giant scopes hooked up to a computer.
All he had to do was get a fix on a star and the rest was done through star maps.
Type in the coordinates and it would take care of the rest,even tracking.
It was cool as hell!!!
If I remember correctly he spent around ten grand for the thing.

He'd roll it out on a cart to his driveway and put the wheels on pre marked spots and find the target star from there by entering the date and time which got him close.
Once he did that it was cake. The moon looked like it was across the street.
And it was all on a monitor so everyone could see it.
Pretty incredible stuff!
 
We have a telescope and have seen Saturn's rings. It was small like the photo is above. What really looks good is Jupiter and the four big moons show up too.
 
Had a neighbor who had one of those giant scopes hooked up to a computer.
All he had to do was get a fix on a star and the rest was done through star maps.
Type in the coordinates and it would take care of the rest,even tracking.
It was cool as hell!!!
If I remember correctly he spent around ten grand for the thing.

He'd roll it out on a cart to his driveway and put the wheels on pre marked spots and find the target star from there by entering the date and time which got him close.
Once he did that it was cake. The moon looked like it was across the street.
And it was all on a monitor so everyone could see it.
Pretty incredible stuff!

7X35s or 10X50s are great terrestrial binoculars but will only give you a tease of a view barely better than what Galileo saw. To really see Saturn, you need a stand-mounted binocular like these 30X100s:

6). 100mm binos.JPG



But like you say, you really need a real telescope to look at Saturn. The department store stuff will show you the rings from afar, but to see good detail, it takes serious light gathering power, resolution and magnification of at least 300 power up to about 700 power like a telescope like this is capable of!

13). 14-inch.JPG



What does Saturn look like at 700 power? About like this, this photo was taken through the above scope.

C-14C View.jpg



BTW, if you want to see Saturn NOW, you can catch it in the morning just as dawn breaks, low in the southern sky right next to Jupiter and Venus (what they call as planetary conjunction).


Screen Shot 2019-02-10 at 1.46.42 AM.png
 
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