Observers Notebook

The Observers Notebook- Titan's Transit of Saturn


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Episode 219
In this episode of the Observers Notebook podcast, host Tim Robertson talks to Bob Lunsford about his process for observing and photographing the recent transits of Saturn’s moon Titan.
Titan’s Orbit and Motion:
• Orbital period around Saturn: ~15.945 Earth days
• Average distance from Saturn: ~1.22 million km
• Orbital inclination: ~0.3° relative to Saturn’s equator (small, so Titan’s path is nearly aligned with Saturn’s rings).
• Apparent size: ~0.8 arcseconds (tiny, only detectable as a “point” in most telescopes).
• Shadow transits are possible only when Saturn’s rings are edge-on (every ~15 years).
• September 20, 2025 — Start around 5:09 AM UTC (≈10:09 PM PDT); ends ~7:34 AM UTC (~12:34 AM PDT); Titan may also be visible near its shadow.
• After October 5–6, 2025, this spectacular phenomenon won’t happen again until 2038–2039.
You can contact Bob at:
Stellarium
https://stellarium.org/
For more information you can visit the ALPO web site at:
www.alpo-astronomy.org/
You can also support this podcast at Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/ObserversNotebook
Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/observersnotebook
Subscribe on our YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/AssociationofLunarandPlanetaryObservers
Subscribe on iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/observers-notebook-the-alpo-podcast/id1199301885?mt=2
I want to thank the Producers of this podcast, Steve Siedentop and Michael Moyer for their generous support of the Observers Notebook.
Our Patreons:
Jerry White
Jason Inman
Bob Lunsford
Steve Seidentop
Stephen Bennett
Michael Moyer
Shawn Dilles
Damian Allis
Carl Hergenrother
Michael McShan
Michael Blake
Nick Evetts
Stan Sienkiewicz
Carl Hergenrother
Stan Sienkiewicz
John Rogers
Jim McCarthy
Stanley McMahan
...more
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