Jupiter, visible moons?

[littlebeagle]

I'm looking at Jupiter tonight and can see the 4 usual suspects, but below (when looking through an eyepiece) the two inner most moons I can see a very faint object forming a triangle, is it possible to see 5 moons through an 8 inch scope?

[Adz]

I believe that only 4 moons are ever possible. The '5th moon' is in fact a star that is pretending

Stellarium software says it is 'HIP 8887', it's free and easy to use if you don't already have it.

Stellarium

[littlebeagle]

Much appreciated, still a great view this evening!

[Adz]

Your welcome, without doubt Catch Orion if you can, it's nebulas are getting at their best to view at the moment.

[Bizibilder]

You could also download "WinJupos" which shows the Moons' positions in real time (or at any time you choose) - amongst lots of other functionality.

[umadog]

There are one or fainter moons which can be seen but they're very, very, much dimmer than the Galilean moons and are a particularly tough challenge if Jupiter is in the same FOV. You would have to go extraordinary lengths to stand a chance of seeing them.

[littlebeagle]

Have downloaded that WinJupos, thanks for the advice, thanks Umadog interesting to know.

Damn weather improved after I'd dismantled the scope and gone back inside . One of the sessions I'm going to get more than an hour of dark skies so I can look at a couple of other things I can't wait to see.

Did manage to get a very amateur shot using my phone (25mm eyepice and 2x barlow).

[Leigh]

I tried using my SNC900 last night for the first time and got the same as your phone.

[littlebeagle]

I tried using my SNC900 last night for the first time and got the same as your phone.

I failed completely on my first attempt with the snc900, hoping for another go when I get more time. Perhaps needs a filter when looking at jupiter to get a better pic?

[Adz]

Better planetary pics come from more frames with dimmer images than what you have there, then stacking them for detail