Heads up: 25 Nov Ganymede eclipses Calisto

[Special K]

Looks to be a nice eclipse of Calisto coming up between 2:11 and 3:35 UT on Nov 25th. Well worth a look if, like me, you've not seen this kind of thing before. The S@N diagram shows most of Calisto behind the penumbra and not sure if that means we might be able to make out a crescent, given the dimensions of your scopes. Sounds fantastic either way.

Caveat1: this event doesn't show up in the Sky and Telescope app Jupiters Moons, which I find to be accurate..........hmmm. Needs some confirmation.

Caveat2: Satisfaction subject to seeing conditions. Consult your local weather station for details!

[Owmuchonomy]

It does appear on the App but in the early hours of the 26th (not 25th).

[Paul73]

It does appear on the App but in the early hours of the 26th (not 25th).

That one looks like Calisto and Europa getting close. The Ganymede / Calisto one is about 8pm(ish) on the 25th. Sadly Jupiter will be well below the horizon from the UK.

NB this info was from me taking a quick look at the Jupiter's moons app.

Paul

[Owmuchonomy]

That one looks like Calisto and Europa getting close. The Ganymede / Calisto one is about 8pm(ish) on the 25th. Sadly Jupiter will be well below the horizon from the UK.

NB this info was from me taking a quick look at the Jupiter's moons app.

Paul

Yes, and I can only find reference to multiple moon events. I can only surmise that the sun angle is such that we will see the shadow cast from Earth? All this discussion about it will undoubtedly bring the clouds!

[Special K]

Yes, the shadow cast must be at such an angle that Calisto, though very far away, will fall inside it for the times specified. I was being a moron expecting the moons to appear together in the app, being our view from Earth. The line of sight from the sun to those moons is obviously a different angle. Incidentally, the published occultation of Ganymede by Callisto on the 19th tallies up with the app 100%.

I'll say no more!

[happylimpet]

My list which I generated from a website, which Ive forgotten - I just generated an xls file from it, shows all events visible from Greenwich.  

It shows the one you indicate ganymede eclipsing callisto, between 0209 and 338 on the morning of 25/11. It shows an 'impact' of 0.331 which I think means 67% of the diameter of one of the moons is in shadow. Nice!

[Special K]

Did anyone get a chance to check this out?!

It was clear, cold, and good seeing here this morning so couldn't have hoped for better.  Before the start of the eclipse, Calisto was nearly as bright as Ganymede at 35x and there just happened to be a nice shadow transit of Io going on at 2am.  At 120x, the difference of brightness looked greater and Ganymede especially begins to appear spherical.  Jupiter and the moons were all nicely framed at that magnification, which was handy for browsing Jupiter and then coming back to check Calisto for signs of the eclipse. 

Calisto was well into the penumbra at 2:30 and slowly showing some signs of dimming.  This whole experience made me think of the "Blood Moon" we see here from Earth!  2:53 was the maximum extent of the eclipse and the dimming was considerable, though not total by any means.  There was no discernable change of shape to Calisto in my scope, as it's too small to resolve that, but in general the appearance and brightness seemed 'flat.'  Would have been real cool to see the crescent in a big scope, though!

Nice event and glad I got the chance to see it unfold.  Having a shadow transit going on was a bonus, and seeing was good enough to pick off some great details on the planet.  Io itself looked visible at the meridian of its transit, Europa was just emerging from the western limb, and the only thing absent was the GRS. 

Clear Skies!

[christhebrit]

Wish I did, clouds again my friend.

Did you take any photos?

[Special K]

No photos, Chris, which is probably a good thing I'll leave that to the professionals!

The parka sure came in handy, though......it's gettin' cold!

[christhebrit]

It's cold here too.

As if it wasn't bad enough that I haven't had a clear sky in weeks, I just saw a forecast of 1cm snow for tonight- seriously?

Chris