Lord Of The Rings

Attended a sidewalk session held by Dave and Ava last weekend at Bishan Park.

John and Uncle Wayne were there as well. Matthew, who is a friend of Valdric's, came to join us. Gary came later. 

Admirers of Saturn.

Dave had just changed views from Venus to Saturn with his 80mm refractor. It has been about a year since I last saw Saturn through a telescope. That's a long time for any stargazer! So, naturally, I was thrilled to meet the second-largest planet in our Solar System again. At about 100x magnification, Saturn's ring was beautifully visible. Pushing the view up to 200x magnification, we were able to spot the Cassini Division in the ring. 

Now, before I carry on with this blog post, I would like to briefly explain to the layperson what Cassini Division is.

There are several segments that form the rings of Saturn - from rings A to G. In between these ring segments are gaps called "Divisions", with Cassini Division being the most prominent one. It lies between the A ring and the B ring. 

The gaps called "Divisions" separate the ring segments.

Saturn's rings with Cassini Division.

Gary took a photo through Dave's telescope and Tweeted it.

Later in the night when they all left. I stayed on with Gary to test his new telescope. It was a Vixen 70mm refractor. Being an f/10 telescope, there was no noticeable chromatic aberration that so often plague fast focal ratio telescopes like mine, an f/5. For people who do not mind the colour fringing, it's okay. It's a trade-off for a wider field of view. 

Looking at the double stars called Albireo, they were pin-point and well-resolved. The flimsy A-Z mount and tripod made viewing a little difficult when strong winds blew. The Moon was perhaps the ultimate object for a CA test that night, I did not see any purple fringes at the outer rim of the Moon. Gary star hopped in the Scorpius constellation, going from M6, M7, to NGC 6231. I am still having trouble learning how to find these objects in the sky. So, Gary took the opportunity to teach me as well. 

The thick clouds started coming in at 3am and we decided to call it a night. I was very happy to have seen so many objects that night, especially Saturn!