Here is what I did For the newbie who hasnt yet seen the planet at absolute edge-on - I thought Id pass along some experiences from the last time
this happened to me some 15 years ago. I'm waiting for the mechanics to change the tires on my van so I figured it be a terrific
way to pass time and perhaps be a little informative to those who havent yet seen the spectacle.

It really DOES go totally invisible. There are things you are told or have read and you know the information is true, but when
you finally see the magic of total invisibilty of a feature that is as obvious and showy as this - its daunting. Not even the
best scopes in the world can see it for a time - and true to these words - no matter the seeing, the sky darkness, your
magnification or aperture - its GONE. Whats left is an oblate looking Jupiter, sans the dandy festoons and other neat
features. My scope was the 8" F/9 planetary reflector. At the time I didnt have the 70mm Ranger, but if its any consolation
to medium aperture observers, it'll be seen first in remergence through them than the smaller reflectors...

Upon first light of remergence its not about ring thickness - its about dimness akin to the ability need to see faint moons
and stars. You've heard of the Airy Disc - how the telescope forms a spurious disc surrounded by diffraction rings in lieu
of the fact that it cant resolve a sun so far off. In the case of Saturn, for quite a while its almost as though you
are observing an Airy Line. Its obvious through contrast resolution not measurable angular seperation. This is a phenomenal time.
The last time I saw the remergence through my 8" reflector the rings were SO dim - Enceladus was just arc seconds off the rings edge
giving the appearance of a fleck of ring that had broken off and floated free in space. Other times, you see the moons slowly
edging along the rings spider thin line giving one of the most unique views anyone can have of any moon.

Then, one day - the rings break free of the irresolvable thread of light. It took some weeks for this to be apparent through my 8" and
it needed 364x to make it real. To catch this threshold of resolvibilty you simply need seeing conditions and magnifications
that are suited for high power doublestar work. By contrast 200x is just too tame for an 8". When the rings finally begin to open to the point
that the line is disappearing and the rings are starting to show you need your scope working at the highest magnifications good
seeing allows. Usually 40x per inch - better if you can pull it off.

Prior to the rings "popping" back into view, the night after night after night of setting up and taking down a biiigggg scope
really tests your observing mettle. To say nothing of what you do, or better yet, SAY after you find out the site across town
has horrible seeing that was invisible from your home where Saturn was buried behind trees. In the end what it showed was a lesson
in the laws of light and how an ellipse begins to reveal and resolve itself from utter invisibilty to the beginning wisps of real
angular resolution. It's one of those life endeavors that was sweat to pull it off but rewards with life time satisfaction o achievement.

As the ellipse began to tip into view, as you'd imagine the apparent thickest part of an ellipse is the center - and thats where the most unusual
sight was had. The ends of the thin rings were irresolvable lines - THE INSIDE - began to show actual thickness. It was unmistakable
and remarkable to see a single line straddling both irresolvibility and clear angular thickness.

From the returning rings were marked by achievements of first detection of certain features like Cassinis, The Crepe and then the
intensity minima of the Bring, etc etc. In time each feature has its own period of remergence. Funny enough Cassinis was seen in my
70mm refractor before the 8" reflector. Not because the 8" couldnt do it. But simply because it was 3am and the big rig was too much
the bother to set up and cool down when the refractor was such an easy carry. For months though this feature was just gone. It failed
a 10" Cave reflector at a star party, it failed my 8" stubbornly. But that one groggy sleepy 3am observation and BAM. Like two dusky bars
on either ansae. So faint were they that neither could be held simultaneously. Ofcourse, the 8" soon followed suit and then all the classic
views that make this object an icon of other worldly mystique and beauty.

By the time everything comes back its so welcome. The edge on show was engaging as it is now - and educational on a number of levels, but the
the show of all features materializing into clarity is just astronomy at its most spectacular and in many respects, classic.

Dude!