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Observing Jupiter's GRS?


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Hi all,

I've been looking at Jupiter a lot recently, mainly because it's the only planet which is observable at a reasonable time here in the UK at the moment.  I've been observing it using my Skywatcher Heritage 130p dob with the stock 10mm eyepiece, and also a 5mm starguider when conditions allow.

When the seeing is kind I am getting a nice contrast to the image, with 3 or 4 moons shining brightly, and also the 2 belts are nice and clear.  That's all well and good, but it's now getting to the point now where I'm wanting just that little bit more, and so I was wondering if it would be at all possible to view the GRS using my current setup? 

Is this possible (assuming that the seeing is good), to view the GRS with my 130p and 5mm starguider (130x magnification), or is this simply not feasible with a scope of this size?

I do have a set of Skywatcher planetary filters (blue, red, yellow and ND), with which I've not really had much joy as yet, but I have to say that the seeing was pretty terrible that night, and so I wouldn't really say that I gave them a fair chance to impress.  So I do have those to hand if any of them will aid seeing the GRS?

Any advice on the subject would be very much appreciated

Thanks for reading

Russ

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Hi Russ,

When the GRS is on our side of the planet (rather critical that !) I can usually see it with my 102mm and 120mm ED refractors using magnifications of 120x - 180x. It's not quite as obvious as it's fame would have you believe and it's a faded pink colour (at best) rather than red.  It sits in a hollow in the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt so it's not bang on the equator by any means. It also moves quite fast around the disk - the movement is noticable over 15-20 minutes. There is a sort of "sods law" that says it will be on the "wrong" side of Jupiter when we observe it but sooner of later it will be on the "right" side for you :smiley:

I don't use any filters on Jupiter with any of my scopes. Some folks do though.

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Hi Russ,

When the GRS is on our side of the planet (rather critical that !) I can usually see it with my 102mm and 120mm ED refractors using magnifications of 120x - 180x. It's not quite as obvious as it's fame would have you believe and it's a faded pink colour (at best) rather than red.  It sits in a hollow in the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt so it's not bang on the equator by any means. It also moves quite fast around the disk - the movement is noticable over 15-20 minutes. There is a sort of "sods law" that says it will be on the "wrong" side of Jupiter when we observe it but sooner of later it will be on the "right" side for you :smiley:

I don't use any filters on Jupiter with any of my scopes. Some folks do though.

Thank you for your reply.

So when you say that the GRS sits in the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt.... assuming that I'm observing Jupiter through my Newtonian dob, I'm guessing that will obviously mean that I'll need to be looking for it on the Northern edge of the North Equatorial Belt through my telescope?

I'll also need to be sure that the GRS is passing through our side of Jupiter at the particular point in time that I am viewing.... can you tell me if there are any decent websites or apps (IOS) which contain GRS transit time info please?

Thank you for taking the time to reply

Russ

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Russ,

Jupiter moons is a very good app for iOS and shows GRS transits aswell as moon and shadow transits.

SkySafari 4 is also excellent. I have Pro which is expensive, not sure if the standard or plus version show these transits too but they are both good apps

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Is this possible (assuming that the seeing is good), to view the GRS with my 130p and 5mm starguider (130x magnification), or is this simply not feasible with a scope of this size?

Yup, it's possible - I've the same set up, and have done it. At first the GRS just looks like a break in the Southern Equatorial Belt, but keep looking and it'll start to come out. Note that it isn't very colourful.

So when you say that the GRS sits in the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt.... assuming that I'm observing Jupiter through my Newtonian dob, I'm guessing that will obviously mean that I'll need to be looking for it on the Northern edge of the North Equatorial Belt through my telescope?

I'll also need to be sure that the GRS is passing through our side of Jupiter at the particular point in time that I am viewing.... can you tell me if there are any decent websites or apps (IOS) which contain GRS transit time info please?

I use the JupiterMoons IOS app - it works well. Use Flip Horizontally and Flip Vertically to see what it should look like through a dob. (There is also a SaturnMoons one - but it's tough to see much more than Titan and maybe Rhea)

In the dob, no, the Southern Equatorial Belt is still the Southern Equatorial belt - but it will be the one at the top. You'll be looking for it on the top edge of the top equatorial belt in the eyepiece - which is the Southern one.

(Don't worry, you get used to it)

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In the dob, no, the Southern Equatorial Belt is still the Southern Equatorial belt - but it will be the one at the top. You'll be looking for it on the top edge of the top equatorial belt in the eyepiece - which is the Southern one.

(Don't worry, you get used to it)

Like this :-)

0cf8ec8d1880bbb7800a27685e27c49a.jpg

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Quote: I've been looking at Jupiter..........

When the seeing is kind I am getting a nice contrast to the image, with 3 or 4 moons shining brightly, and also the 2 belts are nice and clear. That's all well and good, but it's now getting to the point now where I'm wanting just that little bit more..........End.

Over the last 14 Months, and of the few occaisions that seeing has been good, for my location, I have only had one perfect observation, where everything was just right, clarity,detail, GRS and transit shadow of ' Io '.

I have a bigger scope, but conditions play a vital role in what you will/can see. As everyone will often say, patience is the game, just waiting for that right moment, and that moment may only last a few seconds. No doubt, If I ventured to my darker sites more often, I won't have light pollution to contend with, but natures in control as to what the quality of the end result will be.

Just keep at it.

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Thank you for your reply.

So when you say that the GRS sits in the southern edge of the South Equatorial Belt.... assuming that I'm observing Jupiter through my Newtonian dob, I'm guessing that will obviously mean that I'll need to be looking for it on the Northern edge of the North Equatorial Belt through my telescope?

I'll also need to be sure that the GRS is passing through our side of Jupiter at the particular point in time that I am viewing.... can you tell me if there are any decent websites or apps (IOS) which contain GRS transit time info please?

Thank you for taking the time to reply

Russ

I think the other posters have covered this well Russ. I view Jupiter through both refractors and a newtonian so I have to adjust my mind to deal with North at the bottom with the newtonian and the other way around with the refractors. The nomenclature of the features stays the same though :smiley:

I've "tuned" the Stellarium software so that it now gives a reasonably accurate guide as to when the GRS will be visible.

On Merlin's point above, the features on Jupiter vary quite a bit in their intensity, tint and contrast. This can change year to year or even week to week. Initial reports this year were that the GRS was rather paler in tone than last time around but my recent observations showed the GRS having a reasonably well defined salmon pink tint. It was much paler a few years back - just another shade of grey back then really and, as Merlin says, has been stronger red / orange tones.

A couple of years back the South Equatorial Belt faded and more or less dissapeared leaving the GRS appearing to hang against a paler surface area. Jupiter is a dynamic world which makes viewing it a fascinating experience time after time.

Here is a chart showing the main features to look out for which might be useful (this is a refractor view, it will be the otherway up in a newtonian). On a good night I can see this sort of detail with my 12" dobsonian although the image scale is smaller:

post-118-0-80670400-1421773026_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I remember first time I saw it, I didn't realise what I was looking at for at least 10 minutes, I could see the hollow that it occupies but then slowly, ever so slowly the pale pink of the GRS became apparent. I hadn't intended to look for it and was so pleased I did a small jig around the tripod, it was a happy moment indeed.

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Hi Russ,

I have managed to see it in a 4.5 inch f8 Celestron FirstScope. But as some have commented above it will not be as obvious as in some of the picture you see. You should try to observe patiently in a comfortable position for an extended time.

Best of luck! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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