Backyard Viewing of Saturn and Uranus
February 01, 2023
Photographer: Marek Stromayer; Jim Foster
Summary Authors: Marek Stromayer; Jim Foster
Though Saturn (top photo) is a wonderful target for backyard astronomers, particularly when its ring system is favorably oriented, as it has been the past several years, Uranus (bottom photo) appears as little more than a blue dot, even when observed through a 10-inch (25 cm) telescope. This is because Uranus (seventh planet from the Sun) is approximately twice as far from us as Saturn (sixth planet from the Sun) and is less than half its size. Furthermore, it lacks a conspicuous ring system and stratified atmosphere, so compared to Jupiter and Saturn it’s rather indistinct. Nonetheless, it's still fun to be able to observe through a telescope or binoculars. Photos taken from St. Petersburg, Florida on November 14, 2022.
Photo Details: Apertura 10" f/4 Imaging Newtonian OTA - 10F4N; eq6 r pro mount; ir cut filter; 3x barlow x cell; 5x televue powermate; Firecapture; sharpcap; Autostakkert; Registax.
Saturn: Gain 429; expo 4.568; gamma 48; 25fps; magnitude 0.72; distance 9.86AU.
Uranus: Gain 416; expo 5,000; gamma 56; 27fps; magnitude 5,64; distance 18,69AU.
St. Petersburg, Florida Coordinates: 27.7676, -82.6403
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