Saturn as photographed by Damian Peach

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On April 15th at 9:00pm Astronomy Ireland held Nationwide Saturn Watches in various locations all around the country.

Listen to David Moore speak on radio about the Saturn Watch!

At the Watches, telescopes were trained on the magnificent ringed planet, Saturn, often dubbed the Jewel of the Solar System. Saturn is one of the most stunning sights you will ever get to see through a telescope, and remains a firm favourite amongst astronomers all over the globe.

Saturn was placed close to the Moon on the night. Our recent Moon Watch revealed stunning sights on our celestial neighbour's surface.

BRANCH REPORTS

Clare
Friday started as a lovely day, and continued right into the evening. But by sunset at Kilmihil we had cloud cover and drizzle. The Moon could just about be seen through the cloud, but Saturn escaped. Let's hope for better weather next time!
- Angus Sealy

Cork
A dozen people showed up at various times during the watch, which went on for two hours. We had intermittent cloud cover but the views of the rising moon and Saturn were unforgettable through binoculars (tripod-mounted 15x70 Celestron), and my customized Meade ETX125 telescope. Most people present had never seen Saturn before and the gasps came fast and frequent. Flipping from 70x to about 500x, we saw the Cassini Division in Saturn's rings, it's largest moon Titan, and many features on our own Moon especially Copernicus and Aristsarchus, brightly illuminated near the Terminator Line, the lunar dawn.
- Denis Walsh

Dublin
Hundreds of people arrived at Phoenix Park on Friday for Astronomy Ireland's Dublin Saturn Watch. There were some very high-power telescopes set up, giving people stunning views of both Saturn and the Moon. Along the terminator of the Moon, where night meets day, huge shadows were cast across the stark surface by craters and mountains - a sight we don't get to see with the naked eye! A light layer of cloud passed over, but we could still make out Saturn and the Moon through the breaks. Lots of people commented that they had a great night and that they're looking forward to the next Watch!
- Conor Farrell

Kildare
Great Saturn watch in Athy. Over 40 people converged in Athy to look at Saturn, its rings and moons and a very impressive moon of our own. Cloud covered the site from 9-10pm but then clear skies prevailed all the way until 12.30am. People came from many parts of Kildare and Kilkenny. All had fine sights of Saturn and the moon and for first time viewers of Saturn the response was of pure amazment and awe. The warm evening helped the atmosphere of the gathering with many people vowing to return for the next watch. Two people also brought their own scopes and we set these up for them to view Saturn and the Moon. We also spent some time splitting stars such as Polaris and Castor much to the amazment of the attendees. Great success over all and many thanks to all who came along!
- Dermot Gannon

Louth
Despite a beautiful clear and sunny start to the day, cloud spread eastwards across the area from about 4pm. Satellite imagery showed it weakening further west, but the clearance never reached us till later in the night; in fact it began to drizzle for a short while at about 10pm. So unfortunately our event was somewhat ruined by the Irish weather!
- Derek Watters

Sligo
Even though cloud cover was bad, a lot of people turned out for the event anxious for a glimps of Saturn. I set up the equipment anyway just incase the clouds would clear, and we did get a few breaks in the clouds and all the peoople did get to see brilliant views of the Moon, but unfortunately we didnt get to see Saturn. I went on to show people images I had taken of the M42 the Orion Nebula, and M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy, and the planet Saturn and the planet Jupiter and the moons of Jupiter. All these images went down a treat, so a good night was had by all, and looking forward to the next night out.
- Derek Davey

Do you own a telescope or pair of binoculars? Why not get together with some friends and family and hold your own Saturn Watch? If you are interested in running a Public Saturn Watch in your area for Astronomy Ireland, please let us know.

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