Saturn Opposition Surge - July 2020 (Seb Lukas)

Contains: Solar system body or event

Saturn Opposition Surge - July 2020

Saturn two weeks prior and one night post opposition - Tue 7 and Wed 22 Jul 2020 UTC.

Imaged Saturn in good seeing at the beginning of July (left picture pair) followed by less favorable session 30 hours after closest approach last week (right pair). The brightening of the rings (especially the B component) is very evident here, also known as the opposition surge.

This enhancement was first studied by German astronomer Hugo von Seeliger (1849-1924) who proposed that the disappearance of shadows at opposition was the main cause for the brightness peak, a confirmation that the rings are made up of individual pieces rather than a series of solid disks.

Left images combine 24,256 best frames taken between 12:35 am and 1:41 am on Wed 8 Jul AEST (66 minute run). Right pair combines 9,660 frames between 10:23 and 10:55 pm on Wed 22 Jul AEST (32 minute run). North polar storm and a ripple on the NEB/EZ boundary are rotating out of view in the early July capture, there's also a white spot approaching CM inside the NEB. North Polar Hexagon can just be detected which is not possible on the 22 Jul image. Tilt of the rings has increased slightly between the two dates.

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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
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Other
Unknown

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Saturn Opposition Surge - July 2020

Saturn Opposition Surge - July 2020

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