Estimating Saturn System III observing times for NED
There is a large northern storm raging across Saturn best viewed at approximately System III central meridian longitude 50. See example image - http://www.christone.net/astro/saturn/index.htm This event raised the question of when could the storm be best observed or alternatively, when would 50 deg longitude in Saturn System III best be observable from Salt Lake. I could not find an online calcultor, so I used the following method to estimate some good viewing times. 1) The Univ. of Kiev has posted a table of 0UT Saturn System III longitudes for 2011. http://space.univ.kiev.ua/ephem/11a/Pm6.html#Thr 2) My copy of the MICA ephemeris program indicates that Saturn transits SLC generally around 11UT or 4AM MDT local time during February. 3) The System III rotation period is about 10.75 hours or 33.5 degrees per hour. 4) Over 11 UT hours, System III would rotate 11 x 33.5 degs or 368.5 degrees or an adjusted rotation of plus 8.5 degrees. 5) Examining the Kiev 0UT System III longitudes and adding 8.5 degrees to each entry identified the following best 4AM times for my local observing point: Date|SIIICMLong|SIIICMLongPlus8.5 Feb 8 41.8 50.3 Feb 12 48.9 57.4 Feb 16 52.4 60.9 Feb 20 55.9 64.4 Feb 24 59.5 67.9 Feb 28 63.0 71.5 If anyone knows of an online Saturn System III calculator, please let me know. Clear Skies - Kurt
Is this the same storm that's been active for many weeks? I asked about this a month ago but there were no observational reports in response. On 2/7/11, Canopus56 <canopus56@yahoo.com> wrote:
There is a large northern storm raging across Saturn best viewed at approximately System III central meridian longitude 50.
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Canopus56 -
Chuck Hards