Saturn at Opposition: June 27th
Moons Enceladus & Tethys visible on original.
©Ed Grafton
Saturn is in opposition tonight: it glides above the horizon around sunset and will be over 18-arc-seconds in diameter for a few weeks. At about magnitude 0.0, it will pair well with the full moon that accompanies it across the sky this evening.
Now is the best time to view and image the planet (see More Info below). This is also true for the many moons that orbit the ringed giant. You can even identify its major moons using Sky & Telescope’s interactive observing tool.
Our Tele Vue Nagler 6-3-mm Planetary Zoom (mobile site) is guaranteed to ferret out all the details visible in Saturn’s rings and cloud bands. Just twist the black barrel to fine-tune magnification for the seeing conditions — no need to swap eyepieces to find the highest usable power. If seeing conditions improve during the night: just tweak the barrel again to find the right power. As a “planetary” eyepiece it was designed for full field sharpness for any speed telescope, high contrast and transmission for natural color rendition, low scatter, and comfortable eye-relief.
To share planetary views with friends or do on-the-go imaging, use our Fonemate™ smartphone adapter (mobile site) on a Tele Vue Dioptrx compatible eyepiece. Your camera-app then displays the image on the screen. Just hit the record button to capture the moment.
To increase the power of your favorite eyepiece, or for serious planetary / solar / ISS imaging though your scope, consider our Powermate™ amplifiers (mobile site). They increase the focal length of your scope with freedom from aberrations, greater magnification potential, and compact size. Tele Vue Powermates™ are available in 2″ barrels (2x & 4x) and 1¼” barrels (2.5x & 5x). The visual tops all unscrew to accept a specific Tele Vue Powermate™ T-Ring Adapter for cameras and T-thread accessories.
Most any commonly available DSLR, astro-camera, and even some industrial cameras will work with Powermates™. Cameras just need a slip-in 1¼” (2.5x & 5x) or 2” (2x & 4x) nosepiece or T-Ring with optional Powermate™ T-Ring adapter . Powermate™ can be stacked with no adverse impact. View our Tele Vue Powermate™ Gallery on flickr to see what Powermates™ can do for your imaging.
