SATURN

Solar System - Ecliptic in Leo

Image taken on the Star Party of March 10-1,1 2007 in Martínez Buenos Aires

DATA

TYPE: Planet

VISUAL MAGNITUDE: 0.09 (at the moment of the photograph)

SIZE: 20 arc seconds / 1205.00 km diameter

MASA: 95.2 Earth Masses

DISTANCE 8.3263 au

OBJECT DESCRIPTION

Being the second planet in size after Jupiter, Saturn has a lot in common with it mayor neighbour Jupiter. The composition is very similar: 96% of Hydrogen and 3% of Helium. The same as Jupiter, Saturn irradiates more energy than the received from the Sun. The constant emission source seems to be the responsible of generating the atmospherics currents that originates the high clouds of the planet.

The rings of Saturn are immense and very thin. The diameter is about of 274000 km and the wideness of 62000 km, However the height is quiet small: not more than 2 kilometres. From the Earth they look as a solid disk but its structure consist in many individual rings each one of them composed by fragment of stones and ice. A medium size telescope can resolve the Cassini Division, a black stripe visible in the middle of the rings.

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: Celestron C8 SCT Vixen GPDX Mount. Sky Sensor 2000

SKY CONDITIONS: VISUAL MAGNITUDE 4.

LOCATION. Martinez Buenos Aires.

CAMERA: Philips Toucam 840  @f 20, Barlow # 140 Meade 

FILTERS: No

EXPOSURES: 1500 frames

PROCESSED: Registax, Photoshop CS