OCCULTATION BY SATURN OF STAR BY-CANCRI

25th January 2005

VC200L + SC3 B+W VESTA "PIPCAM" WEBCAM WITH IR PASS FILTER

PROCESSED IN REGISTAX. IMAGES ARE 4x OVERSAMPLED

Conditions were very poor for this observation with poor seeing and low elevation. The planet was imaged in IR to try to overcome the atmospheric effects. Cloud prevented observations before and after occultation. Each frame in this animated gif represents a 2min average of 600 frames. The images were heavily processed using contrast stretching and a strong unsharp mask to try to bring out any changes. Titan, which is similar in visual magnitude to the occulted star is visible at the botom left of the frame.

According to Cartes de Ceil the star should have been in the part of the Cassini division visible to the right of the planet at the start of the animation and be occulted by the B ring by the end. The contrast of the Cassini division is slightly reduced in the first frame but by no stetch of the imagination can this be called a positive observation!