My night with the 6 inch on 11th Jan 06

Around 15.30 GMT while it was still light I set up the MKAS fl2.6 6 inch refractor in my back garden. Seeing promised to be good - fog was forecast on the TV. My reason was to observe Saturn and it was more of an afterthought I looked at Mars first. But I'm glad I did. Using the usual 9m/m eyepiece giving a power of x 214 the phase is now very obvious. Since the 10th December last year I've tried several times to observe the red planet but the seeing has invariably been too poor. With the apparent diameter dropping off sharply I thought it would now be too far away. It was not but being only 11 seconds across, the disc is certainly more challenging even in the excellent seeing of tonight,- Antoniadi 2 at best. At 18h 55m, kneeling behind the telescope on my bit of carpet remnant I did a drawing see below. Mare Cimmerium and Mare Tyrrhenum stretching diagonally from upper left to lower right across the disc was much the most prominent dark marking. I could see no SPC but the NPH was present and there was significant white cloud on the west limb.

With the naked eye Mars still appears like a bright reddish star shining unwaveringly in the constellation of Aries. It's forward motion in that constellation since last November is very noticeable. On the 11th January, the planet was magnitude - 0.3, still outshining the other surrounding winter stars such as Hamal magnitude +2.0 and Sheraton magnitude +2.6, the principle stars in the host constellation Aries. Betelgeuse in the neighbouring constellation Orion which matches the planet's colour is currently rather fainter. Sirius is now obviously brighter than Mars.

I resolved to utilise the favourable seeing and wait for Saturn. The declinations of the two planets are now almost the same but as Mars was on the meridian and I did not have to wait for that. I knew the giant planet would be suitably placed after about 4 hours. Well before midnight I was back behind the telescope and I commenced my drawing at 22h 40m. The air was fairly dry so there was only a slight film of moisture on the telescope. Nevertheless I had earlier taken the precaution to put bags over the eyepiece and objective. With the naked eye Saturn looks like a bright, yellowish star of magnitude -0.2 still closely resembling the northern star Capella in brightness and colour although unlike the star it shines with a steady light. The planet is currently in the constellation Cancer. 

For Saturn my 12.5m/m eyepiece is the most suitable. This gives a power of x 152. When I took my first look through the telescope, I knew the four hour wait had not been wasted. Encke's division was clearly visible in ring A. Cassini's division was prominent and black and ring B2 and ring C were clear. The SEB again was double with the lower (Northern) component being broader and darker than the upper (Southern) one. I could also see the STB (South Temp Belt) but that was fairly faint. The SPR has a belt on it's boundary. The shadow of the ring is now a much thinner black line on the planet's globe (under the ring). I think it is emerging behind ring C. The points where the C ring intersects the limb are especially dark and I would anticipate this shadow effect spreading as the apparition progresses. I would also expect the ring shadow on the North of the ring (under it) to disappear. The black shadow of the globe on the rings was clear but obviously thinner as opposition approaches. Of the planet's moons, Titan was clearly visible off to the right. In line with Titan and the planet off to the left, Rhea was very clear. I also spotted Tethys and Dione but they were far from conspicuous. As with Mars earlier, I finished my drawing of Saturn indoors. As always, I leave the instrument outside to check my drawing. It was now around 01.30am GMT on the 12th. There was a frost on the ground and it was time to pack up.