Hi:

A few nights ago, 7/2/19, I happened to be outside late throwing garbage. It was approx 12:30 AM. I looked up at the sky (as most of us do) and noticed Jupiter shining brightly in the South and lagging behind Jupiter was a bright object that I believed to be Saturn.

I went inside and grabbed my Grab and Go scope, my Orion 80mm F7.5 ED on a Vixon Porta Mount. I took out several short FL EPs: 5.1mm Orion ED, 6mm and 12.5mm Sterling Optical Plossls, 6.3mm and 7.5mm Orion Sirius Plossls, and 5.5mm, 9mm, 14mm, and 26mm Meade Series 5000 Plossls. Also, my Celestron 2x and Tele Vue 3x Barlow’s.

I know that’s a lot of EPs. In fact I prob took out a few more. But, when observing planets, I like to go through my various EPs and EP/Barlow combos to see what provides a better view. I enjoy that slow methodical process.

At any rate, the sky cooperated nicely, and Saturn provided a very nice view.

Cassini was well displayed and easily observed. There was a dark shading on the outside edge of the ring.

Interestingly, I believed the planet provided a slight shadow on the rear edge of the ring system. But, this I could not verify as it seemed to come and go. It’s possible my eyes betrayed me, LOL I also enjoy the odd, almost 3D view that occurs as the ring system disappears behind the planet. Finally, if I looked close I could notice the slightly different shades of color on the rings and the planet.

The surface did not display many I distinct features, but I could make out faint cloud bands circling the planet. This seems to cause the globe’s surface to resemble a milkshake not quite formed, still being stirred.

Following the milkshake example, the Polar region provided the most detail. It was noticeable darker than the rest of the globe. This caused the clouds in that area to be much more visible.

After a few hours of observing Saturn, I turned to the area between that planet and Jupiter, to look for some DSOs some of which are beautiful nebulae.

I was unable to locate any nebulae. This was probably because I was getting sleepy. I did enjoy the 1/2 hour or so just slowly skimming through the area.

I wasn’t looking for a known star to “hop” to a known site. Nope, I just let myself go and enjoyed the wonderful splendor of the night sky through the 80mm scope and a 26mm EP. The Meade 5000 Plossl has a 6o degree FOV and along with a 14mm Meade 5000 plossl provides excellent wide views.

It was a very nice night.