[AZ-Observing] Re: Saturn Occultation

As Tom reported, he and I both observed the last half of the occultation
from Arizona Sky Village.  As Tom photographed the moonlit surroundings, I
continued to watch the star's passage through the Crepe ring and its
disappearance behind the B-ring.

Behind the C-ring, the star did appear fainter and seemed of comparable
brightness to Dione, which I believe is 10th mag.  However, I do not
consider this accurate since I did no comparison of the star between the
rings and Saturn, and the star outside Saturn's rings; next occultation.

The star also varied in brightness/visibility to the point or plain sight
and a complete disappearance.  Unfortunately, I cannot hold myself to these
observations:  One, the seeing did fluctuate at 400x, but not to the point
where I would change magnifications.  Two, I was the only observer at the
time, and could not confirm a disappearance with another individual as you
would with a stellar occultation or lunar graze.

-FRANK



> -----Original Message-----
> From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Tom Polakis
> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 9:48 AM
> To: AZ-Observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [AZ-Observing] Saturn Occultation
>
>
> Sorry about the previous post.  I assure you that this one will be less
> devoid of content, even if only slightly so.
>
> I watched parts of the occultation from Arizona Sky Village, near Portal
> with Frank Kraljic and others.  Perhaps he will have more to say about
> the event.  With our 10-inch scopes, we could just barely see the star as
> it approached the A Ring at around 10 p.m.  The disappearance was
> complete, and the star could not be seen winking in and out through the
> divisions.
>
> I rose at 3 a.m. to take some pictures of the surroundings under
> moonlight, and found Frank set up for the reappearance from behind the
> globe.  It came out on time, and was quite easily visible between the
> globe and rings.  Seeing was in the 1 to 2 arcsecond range, permitting
> 400x.  Frank watched the Crepe ring passage, and said that the star
> seemed fainter.  I'll let him describe it more fully if he wishes.  By
> then, I preferred taking pictures by moonlight over viewing a faint star
> near Saturn.
>
> All in all, I hope this posting was a more enjoyable read than my
> previous one.
>
> Tom
>
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