Benton Saturn Observations
Julius Benton is the Recorder for the Saturn Section of the Association of
Lunar and Planetary Observers. He has written a recent article on the Saturn
ring plane crossing for Astronomy magazine (June 1995). He also supplied the
Saturn Observation Forms for this home page.
May 13, 1995
I observed Saturn 05/13 at 09:20 UT. 6" Zeiss refractor at 150X; poor seeing.
Rings showed symmetrical brightness on either side of Saturn's globe. N
hemisphere of globe was slighter brighter overall than S hemisphere, with shadow
of rings across globe (S of ring plane) quite obvious. EZ was yellowish-white
and he brightest area on the globe. NEB was diffuse. No obvious N or S
hemisphere belts or zones, but this was probably a consequence of bad seeing.
Ring ansae were quite obvious on either side of the globe; no differentiation in
brightness noted. B = +0.29 degrees B' = 2.8 degrees.
If weather permits, will try again tomorrow AM.
Regards,
Julius
May 21, 1995
Caught Saturn again this morning (May 21) at 5:30am with my 6" Zeiss refractor
at 244X, but seeing was bad. Could not see the rings at all on either side of
the globe, although it was possible to see them clearly back on May 13. Dione,
Tethys, Titan, Rhea, and possibly Enceladus sighted. Disk details were minimal,
although visibility of the shadow of the rings on the globe was definite. NEB
and SEB diffuse, with fairly bright EZn; Globe S of Ring Plane slightly darker
that Globe North of Ring Plane.
Will try again tomorrow morning and hope for better seeing. Will try with the
10" and 12.5" instruments tomorrow if seeing improves. Hope you guys are getting
clear skies.
More soon.
Regards,
Julius Benton
Saturn Ring Plane Crossing Home Page