[Chaos-l] Farrington- Clear and Dry!

[Michael Hrivnak]

Tonight was the clearest I've ever seen Farrington.  The air was still and 
very dry.  Even when I left at 2:10am, the humidity was only 57%.  There was 
not a drop of dew on anything!

Let me say that again.  At 2:10am, there was not a drop of dew on anything!

By request, I paid special attention to Saturn.  I saw four moons: Dione, 
Titan, Rhea, and Tethys.  I knew where Enceladus was supposed to be, but I 
could not see it.  I pushed the magnification up to 410x (18" f/4.5 scope with 
Burgess 5mm eyepiece), and the view was still very clear!  If I'd brought my 
barlow, I would have gone for 600x.  The rings mostly looked like straight 
lines extending from the sides of the planet, but in moments of exceptionally 
still air, I could see dark space through the rings on either side of the 
planet!  I doubted myself at first, but I was able to repeat the observation 
many times.  There was a distinct band across the planet, about 25% of the way 
from the equator to the north pole.  I felt like I was on the verge of seeing 
some detail in the southern hemisphere, but it never materialized.  There was 
also a very distinct but thin shadow, which appeared to be immediately under 
the rings where they cross in front of the planet.  The planet and rings 
appeared bright yellow.

It was an incredible evening.  I was out there for nearly 9 hours, so now I 
must sleep.  More to come later.

Michael
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