Observation by Chris Hooker: Saturn ring-spoke animation

Uploaded by

Chris Hooker

Observer

Chris Hooker

Observed

2026 Oct 05 - 21:50

Uploaded

2026 Oct 06 - 20:38

Objects

Saturn

Equipment

Orion Optics (UK) OMC200 Mak-Cass
ZWO ADC
ZWO ASI462MC camera with IR-cut filter

Exposure

15, 20, 25 & 40 msec @ F/18

Location

Didcot, Oxfordshire

Target name

Saturn

Title

Saturn ring-spoke animation

About this image

A 2-hour session imaging Saturn in good conditions (seeing Ant II), experimenting with various exposure and gain settings.

During processing I noticed one image showed a darker region near the following side of the B-ring which I thought was due to a processing problem. On examining images stacked from all the videos I realised I had captured the movement of one of the 'spoke' features in the B-ring. The animation is a sequence of 25 frames covering nearly 2 hours from 2057 to 2243 UT on the 5th October. The 'spoke' is the darker region on the left-hand side of the B-ring.

Variations in the brightness and contrast during the animation result from changes in seeing, exposure and gain used during the session.

Files associated with this observation

Saturn 05 Oct 26 ring spoke animation.gif (326.3 kB)

Like this image

Bill Leatherbarrow, Mike Harlow, Alan Dowdell, Andy Wilson

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