Observation by Dr Richard John McKim: Saturn 2024 Nov 20 and a shadow transit ...

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Dr Richard John McKim

Observer

Dr Richard John McKim

Observed

2024 Nov 20 - 19:50

Uploaded

2024 Nov 27 - 12:34

Objects

Saturn

Equipment
  • 410 mm Dall-Kirkham
Location

Upper Benefield, Northants.

Target name

Saturn

Title

Saturn 2024 Nov 20 and a shadow transit of Titan

About this image

Shadow transits of Titan are relatively easy to observe, and can be seen with a 75 mm OG or less, but after a short series of them you have to wait half a Saturnian year for the next! This was generally an unsteady night, but with better moments and I could follow the shadow until after it had crossed the CM. The shadow had soft edges and did not look totally black. in some of the recently posted images, processing has lost the true limb of Saturn, and in reality the shadow was separated from the south limb. The rings, with the Earth considerably higher than the Sun above their north face, were very dull. I last saw shadow transits of Titan (and one of the moon itself) as long ago as 1980, when I was still a student. The next two ring plane passages did not give me the opportunity of seeing Titan crossings. I was lucky to see two transits of Iapetus, and a few of the shadows of Rhea, Dione and (earlier this year, for the first time for me) Tethys. The shadows of the inner moons have a high penumbral content, making them difficult objects visually. I have never seen the shadow of Enceladus and do not think it can be seen visually. There are a couple of images from the last ring plane passage showing the shadow of Enceladus, but there are none by amateurs that show the shadow of Mimas, where the umbral content can be shown by calculation to be around 50 percent at best.

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