Finding Saturn's rings

[OleCuss]

Really easy to be mistaken on identification. Been there, done that - on many occasions. After a time or two we usually get very suspicious about our abilities and start using our references a lot.

Of course, I cheat and use GoTo telescopes. . .

[jimg@sonic.net]

Originally Posted by Miss Wiggles

You guys are right. I downloaded an app and took a look this morning. It's not Saturn, think its Arcturus. Feel a bit silly now but also relieved as now i have the real Saturn to look forward to in the New Year.

Seeing Arcturus is the good news - now turn south and look for a pair of bright "stars" - the first one is Saturn and the next one is Spica. The fact that Spica and Saturn are near to each other right now will help you .

[halliwood]

Originally Posted by OleCuss

Of course, I cheat and use GoTo telescopes. . .

I've tried that, and I still mess up. I use the auto two star and it's not very accurate, so people here suggested that I use the three star align, spent about 1-2 hours trying the other morning and every time I get the message align failed. So far the most accurate tool I've used was google skymap and stellarium.

[OleCuss]

If I'm going to be in a dark site I really try to do my alignment just after the sun sets. When there are just a few stars visible it is not difficult to pick out the brightest stars and get aligned.

Once it is very dark and there is no light pollution about, I end up with tons of apparently bright stars and figuring out which one to use becomes much more difficult.

Maybe it is fortunate that I do almost all my observing from light-polluted sites?

Edit: Forgot to mention that having cross-hairs in your eyepiece can help. Even better sometimes is to defocus and center the resulting large disc in the eyepiece - you can be very precise in your alignment this way. But you have to pretty much nail the alignment star in the eyepiece or your alignment will not work.

[Original Mike]

Originally Posted by Miss Wiggles

You guys are right. I downloaded an app and took a look this morning. It's not Saturn, think its Arcturus. Feel a bit silly now but also relieved as now i have the real Saturn to look forward to in the New Year. Thanks everyone!

Hey, at least you didn't see rings on Arcturus.