Astronomy Picture of the Day - Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows

APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 23 Jan, 2022 | Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Seen from ice moon Tethys, rings and shadows would display fantastic views of the Saturnian system. Haven't dropped in on Tethys lately? Then this gorgeous ringscape from the Cassini spacecraft will have to do for now. Caught in sunlight just below and left of picture center in 2005, Tethys itself is about 1,000 kilometers in diameter and orbits not quite five saturn-radii from the center of the gas giant planet. At that distance (around 300,000 kilometers) it is well outside Saturn's main bright rings, but Tethys is still one of five major moons that find themselves within the boundaries of the faint and tenuous outer E ring. Discovered in the 1980s, two very small moons Telesto and Calypso are locked in stable along Tethys' orbit. Telesto precedes and Calypso follows Tethys as the trio circles Saturn.

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[martin_fierro]

ooooh, cool

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[goodnesswins]

Can anyone here tell me if this is a decent telescope? (on order)

Celestron starsense explorer LT 80 mm refractor essential bundle 22541 BuN-e kit package/kit

THANKS for any input

[muir_redwoods]

It’s a fine telescope for back yard observing. For about the same money you could get a Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ . It’s a Newtonian reflector but it’s a 4-1/2” diameter vs the 3” refractor you’re looking at. The larger scope has about twice the light gathering ability and is inherently color corrected.

[Nateman]

What a great age of exploration it has been! From nothing in space in 1957 to probes taking close up pictures of objects at the far reaches of the Solar System. Long after the intrigues of the Rat Swamp are nothing but footnotes this will be what is remembered centuries from now.

[goodnesswins]

Thank you very much...I’ll see about the one you mentioned.

[telescope115]

Some of the most mind-blowing planetary pictures have come from Cassini.
Structure and shadows in the rings themselves, the shepherd moons…
Wouldn’t it be cool to fly around that planet in a spaceship and go back and forth through the ring plane and skim the surface of the rings themselves?
It’s fun to dream, it takes my mind away from our Earthly problems for awhile🙂

[jmacusa]

Amazing. If there were an ocean large enough for it Saturn would float.

[jmacusa]

I have a Newtonian reflector with a six inch mirror but I need to find a new Telrad for the thing.

[AFB-XYZ]

I often forget just how enormous Saturn is. Thanks for that great image!

[skinny old man]

You never cease to amaze me with these spectacular views !

[Alas Babylon!]

That's no moon!

It's a space station!

[minnesota_bound]

The bigger the lens or mirror the more light it gathers and the bigger the image and sharpness. Example F5 is wide field and f/10 or longer is high power but you need that bigger lens or mirror. I would get a reflector for the better image and lower cost. Also get very good eyepieces. Think about having to haul the telescope around too.

Range of telescopes:
https://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/1.uts

These guys are lucky. Nice photos.

Backyard Stargazers: Giant Telescopes for Serious Hobbyists
https://www.wired.com/2007/09/gallery-telescopes-2/

I have a Canon EOS R6 full frame sensor mirrorless camera that is so sensitive it can see the colors of the nebulas like Orion in the viewfinder!

How to Photograph the Milky Way
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/how-to-photograph-the-milky-way.html

Biggest amateur telescope - It is a spy satellite 70” mirror!
https://www.google.com/search?q=biggest+amateur+telescope&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2zafahMr1AhVoI0QIHWJYC9EQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1331&bih=684&dpr=1.3

[minnesota_bound]

Samples of what you can see with various sized telescopes.

What Can You See With Different Telescopes
http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/what-can-i-see-through-telescope.html

[Ignatz]

I have a Discovery Newtonian with a 10” mirror in a 12” tube. I’m 5’8” and is as tall as I am, lol. I can see gaps between the rings of Saturn on a clear, stable night.
I have a Telrad mounted on it and a finder scope. She’s a beaut! I bought it brand new in 2004 and added the accessories.
Discovery telescopes (not affiliated the Discovery channel) were known for there awesome mirrors. It’s sad they are no longer in business.

Btw, you can order a Telrad from Amazon for $52.95 US.

[jmacusa]

Wow! I'd love to see that kind of imagery.

Best I got a couple of times was going to Pulpit Rock Observatory outside of Allentown PA. I can't remember the name of the type of scope my brother-in-law was using, it belong to the astronomy club he was a member of but I remember it was housed in not in a large rotating dome but it was in a type of large holding case that opened and the scope was mounted on a secure platform and had a 360 degree rotation. Saw the polar ice caps on Mars in beautiful detail. Just amazing. Was even on one memorable night able to see a very distant Neptune. A beautiful robin's egg blue as I remember .

[Ignatz]

If you could see the Martian ice caps in detail it must have been an impressive ‘scope!
Depending on conditions, I can just barely detect them.