Saturns Lightning

[Tarantism]

this morning i was listening to the talk radio program that i always listen to and to my utter suprise they had something nthey havent ever had before...SCIENCE NEWS!!!

it went something like this: astronomers are pointing their telescopes towards Saturn becuase someone obseved a storm on the planet bigger than any on earth, with lightning bolts that are visible using a high powered telescope.

i didnt even know that saturn could ahve a lightning storm, quite frankly .

More Info Here

so what is this all about? what is getting astromomers so excited?

[Turtle]

___Every body is excited because Cassini has a front row seat for something never studied before. I mentioned this in the Skywatchers Journal thread earlier this week when I went out with a 5" reflector to have a look myself. High clouds & a low-power eye-piece prevented me seeing the storm, but Saturns ring(s) looked very cool.
___Here's another link:
http://www.spaceweather.com/

[cwes99_03]

Sorry Turtle but I was under the impression that a 5" reflector couldn't even give you a true image of the rings, just of a ring shape around the planet, after all I took a digital photograph through a 16" lense a couple of years ago and you could only see the curves of the rings, no definition.

Casini IMHO would be about the only way to even observe these lightning storms, as Hubble I don't think has the capability to resolve anything that close (that may be wrong).

Anywho, a normal old telescope in the back of your yard shouldn't be powerful enough to even see a speck on the surface of the planet the size of the earth.

I also got a spectacular image of the moon, well spectacular for an ameteur photographer with a 1.3MP sony camera. Unfortuneately I believe the pics to be lost with a hard drive crash and well floppy disks just aren't reliable as long term storage.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by cwes99_03

Sorry Turtle but I was under the impression that a 5" reflector couldn't even give you a true image of the rings, just of a ring shape around the planet, after all I took a digital photograph through a 16" lense a couple of years ago and you could only see the curves of the rings, no definition.

___I was able to image a single ring (low power eyepiece) with the division between it (them) & the planet clearly visible. The only camera we have for the scope is a little battery operated B/W jobby that came with the scope, & I didn't hook it up that night. Here is a link to an ameteur's telescopic photo of the storm, although I can't find the particulars on his scope/camera setup.
http://www.spaceweather.com/index.cgi

[Turtle]

___ No better way to get Turtle to do something than tell him it can't be done. cwes99_03, you have given me something to distract my mind today with just such a challenge; Brotherly Conduct to you Sir!
___I also found in the box a camera adapter. It's a teeny bit too small, so I'm scraping enough plastic from the inside of the ring to fit my video cam & I plan to give it a go tonight. I think I can make it fit no problem, although I am a little concerned about it bearing the full weight of the camera. Nonetheless, I have a happy distraction for a few hours. If all goes well, I may have some images to post.

[cwes99_03]

Yah that's about as good as I could get, just enough to see that there were rings, but not enough to see any detail, let alone lightning. Oh but my picture was in color, and the planet was definitely a nice orangish color, and the rings seemed a bit redder to me if I remember correctly. I shall also take the challenge of digging out my floppys and searching for the picture.

Check your link above too, it only takes me to the main page of the space weather web site, and I see nothing about a lightning storm on saturn.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Turtle

___I also found in the box a camera adapter. It's a teeny bit too small, so I'm scraping enough plastic from the inside of the ring to fit my video cam & I plan to give it a go tonight. I think I can make it fit no problem, although I am a little concerned about it bearing the full weight of the camera. Nonetheless, I have a happy distraction for a few hours. If all goes well, I may have some images to post.

Uhhhh...there will now be a slight delay in the project while I try and staunch the flow of blood from a rather nasty laceration to the palm of my hand! Clumsy is as clumsy does...good grief. If I get blood on Aces telescope he'll have a hissy fit. Oh bother.