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Saturn October 1, 2002

October 1, 2002 5:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. PDT

AP180EDT f/9 refractor at 303X using paired 16 Zeiss Abbe Orthos in Zeiss binoviewer with barlow and barcon for 3X magnification.

Seeing excellent on the front driveway, San Rafael, CA 37N 122W. Transparency was good too.

The shadow of planet globe was visble on the rings. Large spokes starting in C ring, continuing halfway through B ring. Encke and Cassini Divisions visible easily. Large whiter spot (maybe just the natural color of this part of Saturn's great south polar region) was visible. South Polar cap visible (barely). We suspected one or two small ovals on the south edge of the South Equatorial Belt, but it could have been a rough edge or something. Planet shows through Crepe ring. Ring tilt 26 degrees. Forgot to ID moons, but spotted 5 of them. This is my first Saturn sketch!

Saturn sketches

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