Saturn never pops up quite high enough for me to get over the mountains to the south. Gonna check tonight, Mars and Saturn should be pretty close which should make spotting it pretty easy if it pops over the ridge…weather permitting, of course.

Saturn is a long way off, and it takes it a long time to go around its orbit. If its too far south to be visible from your location, it may take years before it creeps far enough North to be visible. Like all the planets, it stays in the equatorial region, between 23 degrees north or south of the equator.

N Idaho (the Canadian border) is at Latitude 49 North, so Saturn at its highest culmination will be approx 64 degrees above the S horizon. At its lowest (where it is now) it will be at most 18 degrees above the S horizon. All the planets hang out in the ecliptic plane, but Saturn moves so slowly it takes a while to get N enough for you to see it.

But that visual appearance, even in the smallest scope, is a stunner. That icy, cold orb and those delicate rings, floating in that endless darkness is truly unforgettable. My first view of it was also in a 60mm refractor. I was about 12. Even knowing what to expect, I was totally unprepared for the experience, and I will never forget it.

If the former, you’re in for a truly magnificent treat.

When I was in my teens, I stumbled across Saturn with my modest 60mm refractor. Even with a small scope, though, Saturn is an *amazing* vision, the rings clearly visible (depending on the angle they present, of course.)

My thoughts on Saturn are: if you haven’t seen it with a scope, make it a priority. It’s worth it, imo. And if you have kids, share Saturn with them. It’s inspirational.

Refractors require less maintenance and are more portable and convenient to use, and are pretty much maintenance and adjustment free.

I got rid of my reflector when I moved to the city, with its light pollution problems. I have to drive for an hour into the ‘Glades to get a really dark sky, And for deep-sky observing, that is the single most important criterion: dark skies, to maximize that image contrast parameter.

A 6″ Dob is an excellent all-around scope, plenty of performance and flexibility, even if you have ambitions to go for something bigger later.

A lot of folks swear by Schmidt-Cassegrains, a combination of the two. I’ve never owned one, but I think RobVG has one for sale!

Venus is always a featureless white disk or crescent, although some people claim they can see detail in the cloud tops by using exotic filters. Mars is a difficult target, but we can look forward to the May opposition this year (dist = 0.5 AU) or even better, the next two oppositions, Jul 2018 (0.38 AU) and Oct 2020 (0.41 AU). These are particularly good oppositions, because Earth is near aphelion and Mars is near perihelion. At opposition, a planet rises at sunset, transits at midnight, and sets at sunrise, so its visible all night. You may be able to see some good detail on the surface, at very high power.

Saturn is in opposition in June, although it is so far away the orbital geometry isn’t as critical to getting a good view as it is with Mars. You should be able to get a good look at it now, if you live far enough south and have a low enough horizon to pick it up. It’s about 21 degrees S of the Equator. Look for its bright moon Titan, its easy in my 4″.

I envy you your first good look at Saturn. In any telescope, it looks better than in any coffee-table book photograph. It will blow you away. Send us a full report.

Venus and Mars just look like a bright disk, without any kind of variation on the planet visible. Jupiter on the other hand is stunning to look at as the 3 or 4 moons are typically visible as pinpoints of light in a line. Haven’t managed to spot Saturn yet, though its on my wish list.

I’m the amateur of amateurs and just point and shoot whenever I start noticing the planets hanging in the skies at convenient hours and temperatures. That’s the real reason I haven’t managed to grab Saturn yet. One day when life settles down, I can tell this will be a hobby to occupy much time. At that point I will probably trade in for a larger scope.

I’d be curious to hear more about the pros and cons of reflector scopes vs refractor scopes, since you have owned both.