How was the
Saturn system imaged so clearly? Astrophotographer Tom Williams captured such exquisite details due to one night of exceptional atmospheric conditions above the United Kingdom. This means more than a cloudless sky. Pockets of air at different temperatures and densities move around and
bend light as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere, distorting astronomy images. This is called “
seeing”. Less atmospheric turbulence means clearer images. The astrophotographer reduced the impact of seeing with the
lucky imaging technique: thousands of short-exposure images are taken very quickly with a high-speed camera and the clearest images are added up.
Which object in this
smörgåsbord interests you? Perhaps
Titan or the
icy stripes of Enceladus? Maybe the
gaps and
spokes in Saturn’s rings? Saturn's
opposition, when Earth passes in between the planet and the Sun, occurred on October 4th. Due to the planet's proximity and full illumination from the Sun, now is a great time of year to observe it!