Skywatching for a Saturn Year
August 2016 :
Most skywatchers remember their first ever view of Saturn. If there is one single object (besides the Moon) that meets or even exceeds an unexperienced viewer’s expectations when viewed through a telescope, it is the ringed planet.
Upon first gazing upon our solar system’s second-largest planet, even at low power, it’s shape is immediately apparent. The pale yellow globe surrounded by a beige disk so intricately defined through the eyepiece if often credited with getting many “hooked” on astronomy.
Saturn appears so lifelike through even the smallest telescopes that many viewers will often ask if we are looking at the real thing or if they are being tricked by looking at a slide or a sticker at the end of a tube.
Saturn is the outermost of the five classical planets (those visible to the naked eye). At a distance of over 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun, it takes 29.5 years to complete an orbit. It will therefore return to the same spot in our sky after nearly three decades.
Where was Saturn the first time you saw it?
Francine Jackson’s article from May 2016 “Remembering Comet Halley: 30 Years Later” got me thinking about my quest to explore the sky in the hopes of finding comet Halley back in 1985-86. While I never did see the comet, I consider 1986 to be my “year of discovery” as it was the time when my knowledge of the night sky increased drastically and when I enjoyed my first views of many celestial objects, including the planet Saturn.
In the summer of 1986 my father and I visited my local “open sky” site, which was the south parking field for Spring Lake Beach, a little over 200 meters from home (I had no southern sky from our lakefront yard). Our mission for the night, look at Saturn. Already knowing what to expect and where to look, I quickly set up my 60mm “department store” refractor” (which I still own), pointed it to a pale yellow “star” just north of Antares, and focused the highly magnified contraption until I saw the beautiful elliptical form come into view. I contained my enthusiasm, despite this being my first ever view of Saturn, as I presented it to Dad. “Take a look, you can see Titan and everything” I recall saying with intentionally little emotion. I’ll never forget the “wow” he uttered at first glance.
Sharing this first view of Saturn remains one of the most memorable observing experiences I’ve ever had. Today, Saturn has returned to its “home” position, and has completed one full cycle of seasons for me, marking what I consider to be a special milestone in my life as an amateur astronomer.
Do you have any worthwhile experiences you’d like to share?
