Saturn shines!

The day was warm and the sky was very clear on May 19. Of course, a thin veil of clouds began to cover the sky during twilight as I opened Stephens Memorial Observatory for a public night. We were to view Saturn. It wasn't until some time after 9:00 PM when Saturn and star Spica began to show through the twilight. Saturn did not disappoint and the view improved as darkness came. The sky also improved after dark. Rather than start with our beautiful but very low-power (about 30X) eyepiece I began running the telescope at 104X and received beautiful views of the ringed world, about a month past its opposition. Then I decided to try a 2-inch University Optics eyepiece that would deliver 222X and the view went from good to extraordinary. All evening long, along with 25 guests, enjoyed images of Saturn that included three moons (including Titan, fairly close in) colored cloud bands, the shadowy "C" ring against the planetary disk, and the Cassini Division! The crowd was lighter than expected so I had little else planned for the evening but for a look at rapidly-departing Mars. The Red Planet was disappointing as usual though, at 222X, there were hints that we might have made out a polar ice cap and some shadowy surface markings, but for unstable air that caused Mars's image to shimmer. So we stayed on Saturn for most of the rest of the time. After the final guests departed, I turned the big scope to the east and northeast to practice finding M13 and the Ring Nebula. A little fishing produced gorgeous views of M13 -- the great star cluster in constellation Hercules. The Ring (M57) was trickier to find but I got that too. The Ring looked far better at low magnification appearing dim and diffuse at 222X. M13 was stunning at both high and low magnification. I packed it in at about 11:30. We'll be able to show off Saturn and M13 with ease to guests on Friday of Alumni Weekend followed on Saturday by the June Public Night. I forgot to mention to visitors ... Saturday is named after the god Saturn -- it's "Saturn's Day."