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Saturn

saturn030311Last night I took advantage of the first clear night in ages when I actually had some time and wasn’t absolutely shattered to go and have a look at Saturn. It was beautiful and even with my modest scope I could see the gap between the body of the planet and the rings. I could also see two moons: definitely Titan and, I think, Enceladus.

This wasn’t the first time I’d seen Saturn through a telescope. My son was given a (good quality toy) telescope for Christmas a couple of years ago. On the first clear night we could, we took it out into his grandparents’ back garden and looked at Saturn through it. The rings were obvious and the whole family crowded round to see. My son was 7 at the time and this was the first time he’d seen Saturn. My gran, his great gran, was 94 and this was also the first time she’d seen Saturn. All those years, and she’d never looked. She was as amazed as my son. It was a wonderful evening.

I’d just like everyone to take a moment, open their eyes and look up.

(The image is from the gallery and is by the very talented CADAS member Bud Budzinski.)

 

This entry was posted on Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 6:06 pm.

4 Comments »

  1. Saturn never fails does it! Love the thought of your gran seeing it for the first time at 94.
    a). I hope I live that long and b), that my eyes still work well enough to enjoy the sight!

    Comment by Ron — 1 April, 2011 @ 9:04 am

  2. Good Evening,

    Are you the same Bud Budzinski that lived in Yeovil (mudford Road)
    If you are do you remember me. I was a very enthusiastic 17 yr old who helped you with your filming. Do you remember the endless takes of reet petite in the gardens nightclub and the fashion show at the octagon theatre back in 1988 I think. I used to work in the eletrical shop ORBIT in the quedam centre.
    I never knew you had an interest in astronomy. I have had since I was a kid. Arthur Davies and I were also a member of Bridport AS say hi from me. Last time I saw him was at astrofest about 6 years ago. I live in Norfolk now and have just built my own observatory see my webpage. Please get in touch and say hi. Best wishes Malcolm

    Comment by Malcolm Dent — 27 October, 2011 @ 8:40 pm

  3. Hi Malcolm, I’ve only just picked up your blog – and only because Ron Westmass brought it to my attention. If you remember there were two Buds – the singer and the guitarist – I’m the younger, guitar playing Bud and yes, I do remember you as a very enthusiastic 17 year old! Where has all that time gone?
    I’m still busily gigging with the band and and will go international next year with a tour of Spain.
    I’ve been an avid astronomer since I was about 8 years old but it wasn’t ‘cool’ to be a star gazer back then. Of recent times I’ve concentrated my efforts on imaging and writing astronomy related magazine articles. Please drop me a line when you can and perhaps some images of what you’ve built for yourself.
    Best regards
    Bud

    Comment by Bud Budzynski — 20 November, 2011 @ 11:19 am

  4. Aaah, I think it’s amazing when two people who know each other meet over the Internet! :)

    Comment by Anonymous Name — 18 January, 2012 @ 7:28 pm

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