| Saturn |
with nearly on-edge Rings |
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| Image Information |
| Date Imaged |
03/07/2009 |
| Location Imaged From |
Barking Pumpkin Observatory in Tierra del Sol , CA
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| Equipment |
Telescope: 10" f/6.3 LX200
Mount: Pier and Ulti-Wedge
Camera: Phillips ToUCam Pro II
Focal Ratio: f/12.6 w/ Teleview 2X Powermate |
| Exposure Information |
Best 560 out of 2006 frames |
| The seeing was not very good as evident by how the image is not very crisp, but I had been wanting to capture Saturn with the rings on edge anyway. Hopefully, I will be able to try again whent the seeing is better. If you look closely, you can barely make out the Cassini division. |
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian, meaning "Jupiter-like", planets.
Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturnus (that became the namesake of Saturday), equated to the Greek Kronos (the Titan father of Zeus) the Babylonian Ninurta and to the Hindu Shani. Saturn's symbol represents the god's sickle.
The planet Saturn is composed of hydrogen, with small proportions of helium and trace elements. The interior consists of a small core of rock and ice, surrounded by a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous outer layer. The outer atmosphere is generally bland in appearance, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h, significantly faster than those on Jupiter. Saturn has a planetary magnetic field intermediate in strength between that of Earth and the more powerful field around Jupiter.
Saturn has a prominent system of rings, consisting mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. Sixty-one known moons orbit the planet, not counting hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings. Titan, Saturn's largest and the Solar System's second largest moon (after Jupiter's Ganymede), is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System to possess a significant atmosphere.
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