Somewhat neglected this year. I only have two pictures both taken in infra-red light (see note below). Saturn reached opposition on 17 April 2012, so both these pictures were taken before opposition. Saturn is moving south of the ecliptic this year (around -2°) so is getting lower in the sky.
The rings are continuing to open slowly. Each year they will open a little more until 2017 when they will reach their maximum.
The images are in chronological order.
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The first and better of my two pictures this year. Saturn was low in the early-morning sky (28°) when this picture was taken. Saturn was 1,508 million kilometres (9.07 AU) away and subtended an angle of 18 arc-seconds. The inclination of the rings was 14.2 degrees.
Date and Time: 28th March 2012 02:00 UT Camera: DMK 21AF04 Telescope: LX200 with X2 lens and IR-pass filter Capture: ICCapture. 1/11", gain 1023, 899 frames at 7.5 fps Processing: Registax 6. 2 alignment points, 150 frames stacked per point, wavelets 1-2 = 10 |
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Saturn was still very low (29°) in the late-evening sky when this picture was taken on 12th April. Saturn was now a little closer at 1,307 million kilometres (8.73 AU) but still subtended only 18 arc-seconds. The inclination of the rings was 13.7°.
Date and Time: 12th April 2012 23:59 UT Camera: DMK 21AF04 Telescope: LX200 with X2 lens and IR-pass filter Capture: ICCapture. Exposure 1/11 sec, gain 1023 (maximum), 899 frames Processing: Registax 6. 2 Alignment points, 150 frames stacked per point, wavelets 1-3 = 10 |
Note:
I often get better pictures of planets which are very low in the sky by using infra-red (IR) light. The atmosphere acts like a prism so that, when an object is low in the sky, the colours become separated. The colours can be realigned in RegiStax very successfully, but using IR obviates the need. In addition IR cuts through any low-altitude haze better than the visible wavelengths.