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ART ASTRONOMY Uranus
2023 on Sun, Moon, Venus & Miscellaneous PROCESSING
TUTES |
SATURN 2023 |
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Note: Most
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Saturn Images from 2011 to 2023 showing
the changing tilt over this time From 2011 to 2017 the ring faces have been opening up and in 2018 to 2023 they begin to close up again as Saturn commences to tilt back in the opposite direction. |
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Since 2011 we have kept a record of the
changes in Saturn’s ring tilt. (Actually, the entire planet & rings are
varying their tilt/appearance as viewed from Earth!) 2011 represented the first year we felt
that the images were of sufficient resolution to warrant keeping records; it
should also be noted that some of the images chosen were near opposition when
the “Seeliger Effect” caused the rings to look brighter than in other
images…the degree of “openness” also influencing their brightness. This year’s image (2023, the last/bottom
image above) shows that the ring-tilt is fairly similar to what it was back
in 2011. (the 1st at the top) |
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November
21st 2023 |
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October 12th 2023 |
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September 27th 2023 |
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August 23rd 2023 |
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May 23rd 2023 |
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In the image below you can see in the
Southern Hemisphere of Saturn (below the rings on the disk) a tiny white
spot/circle and further down and to the right of this a dark spot/circle just
inside the edge of the disk. This is an image of Saturn’s moon Tethys
transiting (moving across) Saturn’s disk and the black spot is this moon’s Shadow cast onto Saturn. A fairly rare
capture and only occurring as the rings close up and the plane of the moons
begin to align with the planet with respect to our view from Earth. |
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Here is an “inverted” image of the above:
these “reverse” the colours and now Tethys is a black spot and its shadow is
white – other moons seen around Saturn appear as black dots in this image
also. |
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In the image below an animation was made
at each of the times shown in the display: we can see the tiny white circle of Saturn and its black shadow moving
across in front of Saturn…the shadow is to the right because the sun (which
casts Tethys shadow onto the face of Saturn) is shining from the left-hand
side of these images. Two other moons are seen orbiting Saturn
also. |
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The image below is the same as the one
above but Saturn has been orientated to make the image’s bands and rings appear horizontal. This was done to show that Tethys and its
shadow do not move in a straight line across Saturn’s face – they appear to rise upwards as they progress
through the animated images. This is because the orbit of Tethys is
not parallel to Saturn’s bands or rings, but actually inclined, hence this
“rise.” |
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May 14th 2023 |
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About 2/3 the way up from the rings in
Saturn’s Northern Hemisphere and less than halfway in from the left-hand Edge we can see a little “string” of
white spot in a lighter, thin belt/band. This is a little string of storm spots in
Saturn’s upper atmosphere. |
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April 16th
2023 |
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Here 5 of
Saturn’s moons are strung out on the right-hand side of the planet’s ring
system. |
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