2018 Aug. 9 ~ Saturn in the constellation Sagittarius
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Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, between 22.39 and 23.04 EDT
(285 km by road north of Toronto)
* Altitude of centre of image at time of exposures: 23°
* Temperature 15° C.
* Total exposure time: 11 minutes
* 540 mm focal length telescope
* field of view: 3° wide by 2° high
* co-ordinates of centre of frame: R.A. 18 h 07 m, Dec. -22° 46'
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Description:
The best known of the several ringed planets in our solar system is Saturn, which is easily visible to the unaided eye and is the brightest object in the night sky after the Sun, the Moon, and the planets Venus, Jupiter and (sometimes) Mars.
Saturn revolves around the Sun in a period of about 30 years, which means that it passes through each of the twelve constellations of zodiac in about 2 1/2 years.
This year (2018), Saturn is in the constellation Sagittarius, and is set against the gorgeous background of the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
In this view, Saturn - the brilliant object near the left edge of the frame - is very close to the the well-known and beautiful Trifid Nebula (M20, at the top right of the frame) and Lagoon Nebula (M8, lower right), making for a striking view.
For a different, higher contrast view of the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae, made in Sept 2016, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/29207812440
And for a closer-in view of the Lagoon Nebula, made in Sept. 2017, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/36452351134
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Technical information:
Nikon D810a camera body on Tele Vue 101is 101 mm (4") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount
Eleven stacked frames - each frame:
540 mm focal length
ISO 3200; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4; unguided
(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)
Subframes registered in RegiStar;
Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (levels, brightness, contrast, colour balance, bright star flare reduction)
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2018 Aug. 9 ~ Saturn in the constellation Sagittarius
***************************************************************************
Photographed at Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, between 22.39 and 23.04 EDT
(285 km by road north of Toronto)
* Altitude of centre of image at time of exposures: 23°
* Temperature 15° C.
* Total exposure time: 11 minutes
* 540 mm focal length telescope
* field of view: 3° wide by 2° high
* co-ordinates of centre of frame: R.A. 18 h 07 m, Dec. -22° 46'
___________________________________________
Description:
The best known of the several ringed planets in our solar system is Saturn, which is easily visible to the unaided eye and is the brightest object in the night sky after the Sun, the Moon, and the planets Venus, Jupiter and (sometimes) Mars.
Saturn revolves around the Sun in a period of about 30 years, which means that it passes through each of the twelve constellations of zodiac in about 2 1/2 years.
This year (2018), Saturn is in the constellation Sagittarius, and is set against the gorgeous background of the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
In this view, Saturn - the brilliant object near the left edge of the frame - is very close to the the well-known and beautiful Trifid Nebula (M20, at the top right of the frame) and Lagoon Nebula (M8, lower right), making for a striking view.
For a different, higher contrast view of the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae, made in Sept 2016, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/29207812440
And for a closer-in view of the Lagoon Nebula, made in Sept. 2017, click here:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/36452351134
___________________________________________
Technical information:
Nikon D810a camera body on Tele Vue 101is 101 mm (4") apochromatic refracting telescope, mounted on Astrophysics 1100GTO equatorial mount
Eleven stacked frames - each frame:
540 mm focal length
ISO 3200; 1 minute exposure at f/5.4; unguided
(with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)
Subframes registered in RegiStar;
Stacked and processed in Photoshop CS6 (levels, brightness, contrast, colour balance, bright star flare reduction)
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