Jupiter cloud bands?

[laphroaig]

Hi all,

When I viewed Jupiter recently with my 76mm reflector I saw 2 faint brown bands along the equator and the whole southern pole area of the planet (which in the scope is up) covered in somewhat darker brown colour. There may be a similar but much smaller patch around the north pole but so faint and small that I can't be sure.

That has been a consistent view over the nights and at different magnifications.

So I'd like to ask if what I saw (i.e the patches at the poles) is something real or just something produced by my cheap scope?

Thanks and clear skies to all.

[Kai]

Nope they are Jupiters Cloud bands alright

[maroon bells]

That's exactly what I used to see with my Tasco 60mm, it's not bad for a small scope like ours eh?

They are the equatorial belts. From memory I don't think that I saw much more than that.

I haven't seen Jupiter yet in my 9.25 so I'm not sure how much better it will look in that.

[Astroman]

Sounds like you saw the "main" cloud features, all right. There are 13 named belts, bands and zones visible on Jupiter. Most small scopes can only see the 2 main equatorial belts and maybe the polar zones. It takes aperture and good seeing to see the rest, plus details in the belts and bands at high mags.

[laphroaig]

Thank you all for the advice.

From your words it seems that my scope has done its job. Not bad for a £25 secondhand scope (Oops )

Maroon bells, mine is also a Tasco, coincidentally. It has done a good firscope job.

It's funny that when I bought this scope, I told my self that seeing a wee bit of everything, and 'knowing that I saw it', is enough. And then after I got it for a short while I want the biggest scope in the world.

[maroon bells]

I saw some good views of Jupiter and Saturn through mine but never really saw any stars, not sure why.

Don't go too crazy on a big scope though. I'm sort of thinking that something smaller may have been more practical for me. I've got a Celestron 9.25 and it's a big job getting it out into the garden. You never realise until you actually use the things.

[laphroaig]

Yeah I know. I won't get the biggest because then I will still want a bigger

Don't know why you didn't saw stars in your small scope. I see lots of them in mine.

[The Warthog]

I saw the cloud bands clearly from Scotland last year, in a cheap but competent 90mm refractor. Two bands are usually all you see, and sometimes the polar region.