Saturn
The first image of Saturn that I took through a telescope was at Case Western Reserve University's 0.9 m telescope in Cleveland, OH. It was taken with my Canon Powershot S30 held up to the eyepiece in Spring of 2003 during a Physics and Astronomy Club end-of-year picnic.
This is a later attempt to image Saturn using the CU Boulder telescopes. I've narrowed down the focusing issue as much as I could, and I've determined that a large part of the problem is that atmosphere above Boulder ... it just sucks. Here is the best image of Saturn I've taken to-date. You can see the Cassini Division in the rings, and you can sort of make out a cloud band if you squint. You can also see the shadow of the rings on the planet in front, and you can see the shadow of the planet on the rings in the upper left (where it appears as if the rings break before reconnecting behind Saturn).
| Object | Planet Saturn |
| Common Name | Saturn |
| Date, Time, & Moon | June 1, 2006 @ 10:00 PM; ?? |
| Location | SBO Telescope at CU Boulder |
| Optics | 18" (45.7 cm) Cassegrain; 270" (686 cm) focal length; f/16 |
| Camera | Canon Digital Rebel 350D XT; ISO 100 |
| Exposure Time | 50 frames at 1/6 sec for a total of 30 seconds |
| Optical Correction | No Dark- nor Flatframe-Correction |
| Camera Position | Prime Focus |
| Guiding | Passive Clock Drive |
| Processing Details | Keith's Image Stacker - Stacked and Laplacian Pyramid
Sharpened PhotoShop CS - Levels Adjustment and Unsharp Mask |
| Magnitude Depth | N/A |
| Notes | Can finally see Cassini Division! |