Solar System
Saturn – Sixth Planet From The Sun
I photographed Saturn from nearly one billion miles from our back garden (and Earth!) in the early hours of 3rd September 2023.
I used the near full zoom on my brilliant Nikon P1000 camera. Image taken unguided on a reasonably steady tripod. I used manual exposure etc. settings as easier to focus. No special astrophotography software was used. A very unseasonable warm evening with haze and air currents prevents better clarity. I was pleased with this effort with minimal accessories.
Saturn is 75 thousand miles (120,000 km) in diameter. Saturn is 9.5 times bigger than Earth & 764 Earths could fit inside Saturn. It is mainly made of hydrogen and helium gases. The centre of Saturn is a dense core of metals like iron and nickel surrounded by rocky material and other compounds solidified by intense pressure and heat. It takes 29 years to complete an orbit around the sun.