Saturn before dawn

I woke up at 3:00 a.m. specifically to photograph Saturn. I had placed the telescope outside several hours earlier to allow the optics to reach thermal equilibrium before imaging.

The image was captured with an Omegon Advanced X N 254/1250 Dobsonian telescope, a ZWO ASI 462 planetary camera, and a 3× Barlow lens. I recorded a series of video sequences and selected and processed the best frames to reveal details in Saturn’s atmosphere and its ring system.

At the time of the observation, Saturn was high in the pre-dawn sky. After getting out of bed at 3 a.m., seeing the planet appear clearly on the camera screen made the lost sleep worthwhile.

Omegon Advanced X N 254/1250
UV/IR cut filter
3x Barlow

Processed with PIPP, AS!3, Registax and Winjupos