May 14 (UT) 2.1 micron image - obtained by Kevin Jim and Andrew Pickles; image processing was performed by Richard Wainscoat. This image was made using the University of Hawaii's 2.2-meter telescope with its tip-tilt secondary mirror in operation (guiding on the satellite Tethys). The tip-tilt guiding removed some of the atmospheric distortion, and also removed buffeting of the telescope by a moderate wind from the east. Exposure time was 8 seconds through the K' filter. Saturn is relatively dark around 2 microns due to methane absorption in its atmosphere. This image has a resolution of 0.50 arcsec, and was taken at an airmass of approximately 1.9. Two satellites may be seen to the left of the rings - these are Tethys (brighter) and Enceladus (fainter). The shadow of the rings produces the dark line across Saturn's equator.
A deconvolved version of the May 14 image is now available, and is also available in false color. Since no true point source was available, Tethys was used as the point source for this deconvolution. Tethys is not quite a point source (diameter 0.145 arcsec), so some low level artifacts result from the deconvolution.
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