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Saturn photos from 5 years apart looked completely different to me | Astronomy Photos - Opinions Matter

Saturn photos from 5 years apart looked completely different to me

I was scrolling through old photos on my phone last night. Saw a Saturn shot I took in 2019 with my basic 130mm scope. Then I looked at one from last week with my new 8 inch Dobsonian. The difference was insane. The rings were just a smudge in the old one. Now I can actually see the Cassini gap and some banding on the planet itself. Better gear helped but also I learned to stack frames instead of taking single shots. That's really what made the most difference. Did you guys upgrade your setup and see a jump like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaj335mo ago

Honestly, I feel personally attacked by how accurate that is. I went from a 90mm refractor that made Saturn look like a fuzzy lima bean to a 10 inch dob and suddenly there's a whole damn planet in my eyepiece. Ngl, I spent my first night with the new scope just laughing at how dumb my old photos look in comparison. Stacking frames is basically witchcraft, I swear. It's like going from a flip phone camera to a DSLR without telling anyone. Tbh, I'm still mad I wasted so many years thinking "good enough" was actually good enough. Now I'm that friend who judges people's setups silently but also wants to hand them a better scope immediately.

umamartin5mo ago

Got a 6 inch Dob last year after years of thinking my little refractor was "good enough." I was SO wrong. The first clear night I pointed it at Jupiter I could see the Great Red Spot clear as day and four moons all lined up neat. My old scope would have just shown a bright blob with maybe one moon if I was lucky. Stacking frames is absolutely the game changer though, I agree a hundred percent.

xena_fox395mo ago

Got a friend who had a REALLY old 3 inch refractor he swore by for years. Finally borrowed my 8 inch Dob one night and saw Saturn's rings clear as a photo, he literally just stood there speechless for five minutes. Now he's saving up for his own big scope and kicking himself for waiting so long.