Why do we even have water bowls!? Tabby has upgraded to the full self-serve tap experience! I also have a cat fountain but apparently that also doesn't cut it!🙄 😻

A free post with write-up. Thanks to Tom Williams for providing this photo - and a reminder to all that obsessing over having telescope optics perfectly clean is ultimately a waste of time. patreon.com/learnastroimagin…

The carrot is MINE! 😼🥕

Saturn on October 13th Mostly poor seeing. None the less a very dark ring spoke was seen at left. The shadow of the rings on the globe is also increasing and is now quite noticeable -- and will continue to increase in the weeks ahead.

Saturn with Tethys on October 5-6th, 2026 Some spells of near perfect seeing this night allowed for some wonderful views. Lots of spokes were visible, including a particularly dark and prominent one on the left side. Tethys is visible alongside the planet at right. We now move away from opposition and the rings will appear to narrow slightly while the ring shadow will be cast across the front of the planet above the rings.

Saturn on October 4-5th. Very good seeing again during this session but poor transparency for much of it due to high clouds. Despite this, later in the session a very dark ring spoke came into view. This was easily visible on the live camera feed. I took the camera off when it was near is best presentation to attempt visual observation. Using a G filter and a power of 350x i was amazed to see this spoke was quite easily visible - marking my first ever visual observation of a ring spoke!

Saturn on October 3-4th, 2026. Good seeing. Tethys and its shadow in transit. Some faint spokes are discernible. A few of the moons are also in view. The rings are particularly bright due to the planet being at opposition.

Another movie of Saturn - this from Oct 4-5th. Good seeing. A particularly dark and prominent spoke is seen in the rings. It was easily visible on the live video. This prompted me to attempt to observe it visually. Using a G filter and power of around 350x this was easily visible - marking my first ever visual observation of a ring spoke on Saturn.

Some really cool images of the Jupiter occultation by the moon on October 6th!

Saturn movie on October 5-6th, 2026 Great conditions last night. Tethys and shadow in transit. Lots of spokes in the rings on the left side. A bright spot is seen on the planet - this having been present now for some months.

Over the past three nights i've been fortunate to have some great seeing conditions at times. So much so, i even managed to get my son (14) out to have a look at Saturn. Here he his viewing the planet at high power (350x) under excellent seeing. "Wow, its so clear and sharp" he remarked. I then told him how far away Saturn is - and he was even more impressed. Then he pondered "that would take a REALLY long time to drive there in a car wouldn't it!?" 😂♥️🚗

Saturn movie from October 3-4th, 2026 This was made using the new Planetary Derotator program from Dominique Dierick and Luc Debeck (very impressed with this program so far - well done to both on making this software!) Mostly good seeing during the session. Here we see Saturn's moon Tethys and its shadow in transit across the planet. Many faint spokes are also seen in the rings.

Saturn with moons on October 2nd. Very poor transparency and worsening seeing. A faint spoke is visible at left. Some of Saturn's moons are nearby.

A free video with real images and demonstrations examining the pitfalls of using Artificial Intelligence LLM's to process astronomical images. patreon.com/learnastroimagin…

Lots of new data sets added to Patreon today patreon.com/c/learnastroimag… Along with heaps of data sets to download, you've also access to hundreds of tutorial videos on astro-imaging.

Saturn movie from Sep 21-22nd over about 2.5hrs showing many spokes within the rings and some discrete features on the planet. The 2026-7 apparition remains remarkable in the number and frequency of ring spokes!