[BAA 00480] White spot on Saturn

[Rick]

BAA electronic bulletin No. 00480 -- http://www.britastro.org/
Bulletin transmitted on Tue Mar 16 18:54:43 GMT 2010
(c) 2010 British Astronomical Association

A white spot was imaged on Saturn on 2010 March 06 by Tomio Akutsu, and subsequently by Paul Maxon and Chris Go. It is in the southern South Tropical Zone.  Akutsu's latest images of March 14 indicate the spot is now quite bright and could potentially be seen visually in moderate-sized amateur telescopes under good conditions.

It was initially observed at an approximate System 3 longitude of 4 degrees and a latitude of -41 degrees. It appears to have a small positive drift with respect to System 3, and by March 14 was close to a System 3 longitude of 6 degrees. This longitude will transit at about 22h on March 15, 19h on  March 16, midnight on March 17/18 and 1h on March 18/19. Hence the nights of March 17/18 and 18/19 will be good times to look from the UK. Saturn is at opposition on March 22 and currently transits about half an hour after midnight.

Another light spot currently exists on Saturn, first imaged by Anthony Wesley on February 26 and subsequently by Trevor Barry. This is between the components of the South Equatorial Belt, in the SEB Zone. It had an initial System 3 longitude of around 47 degrees and a latitude of -29 degrees, and initial observations indicate a rapid negative drift with respect to System 3.  A large amateur telescope is probably required to detect this spot.

Recent Saturn observations can be seen on the Saturn 2010 gallery on the Saturn Section web page:

http://www.britastro.org/saturn/subpages/saturngallery/2009-2010/general-2010.html

and on the ALPO Japan site:

http://alpo-j.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/indexE.htm

All observations should be sent to the Director of the Saturn Section, Mike Foulkes, at saturn at britastro.org

David Arditti