Posts Made By: Carlos E. Hernandez

Sol,

Another excellent observation of Saturn. I hope to start observing Jupiter and Saturn again in the near future. The best of luck in your future observations.

Carlos

Sol,

Another excellent observation of Jupiter. I will have to check out this region of the planet . Looking forward to your future observations.

Carlos

Angel,

Wonderful images of Jupiter and Saturn. Thank you for sharing them with us all. I made an observation of Saturn earlier the same night. I hope that you like it.

Carlos

Mike,

You have pointed out a very interesting aspect of Saturn's rings with respect to their brightness variations. Ring A (outer ring) is usually dull (5/10) and may exhibit the infamous Encke minima (or division) . The Encke Division may be detected under steady seeing conditions using at least a 6-inch refractor or 8-inch Newtonian. Ring B (middle ring) exhibits the greatest variation in brightness due to it's diameter and proximity to Saturn (globe; ring particles reflecting a more intense (lumens) light from the globe). The outer portion of this ring does appear brighter than the inner half. This is due to variations within the ringlets (as we all know the rings are actually made up of thousands of ringlets as shown by the Voyager spacecraft). The passage of Saturn's magnetic field over the rings as the planet rotates may also affect their reflectivity (brightness). Ring C (Crepe, inner) is the darkest of the three major rings. This ring is most noticeable as it crosses the globe. At times spokes (radial dark features) are visible over the inner aspect of Ring B and may therefore "darken" this portion of the ring.

A reason that the the rings may appear more "homogenous" in CCD images is that processing (software) may "average" the brightness of the ring. The eye can pick out the subtle variation within the rings. A good example where the eye (if properly trained) can be an excellent detector for fine detail over the planets.

The best of luck in your own observatons and Happy Holidays.

Carlos

Sol,

Another excellent observation of Jupiter. The North Equatorial Belt (NEB) is prominent with dark condensations (or barges) noted within and blue festoons noted along the southern border. The South Equatorial Belt (SEB) is divided into northern and southern components with a thin SEB zone (SEBZ) noted. Please keep up the excellent work.

Carlos

Angel,

A beautiful image of the ringed planet. I am sorry that I missed an opportunity to observe at the same time you made your image. We all look forward to your excellent images in the future.

Carlos

Sol,

An excellent and highly detailed observation of Saturn. The globe detail appears as in my latest views of the planet quite accurately. The difference in brightness of the rings (A and B) over the ansae (opposite ends or curves) has been recorded in the past. Please keep up the great work.

Carlos

Greg,

Thank you for posting your observation of Georgum Sidus (aka Uranus). This planet normally presents a featureless pale greenish disk. Rarely have features been detected on this planet (using moderate to large instruments). Steve O'Meara (an amateur) discovered the rotation period of Uranus by monitoring a cloud adjacent to one of the poles in 1976, prior to the arrival of Voyager 2 in 1989. On a steady (seeing) night you may detect the larger satellites (Titania and Oberon) next to the planet. The best of luck in future observations of this gas giant.

Carlos

Sol, A beautiful rendering of Jupiter and the transit of Io. You have captured the GRS/SEB region very nicely. The STB appears to displace to the south as I have noted in my own observations. The NEB is full of detail as well. Please keep up the excellent work. Carlos

Angel,

Congratulations on an amazing image of Jupiter showing a wealth of detail. You have captured the Great Red Spot (GRS) region very nicely in this image. I look forward to your future images using this impressive instrument.

Carlos