Jupiter - 3 August 2012

[DarkerSky]

Jupiter looking awesome in the dripping dawn sky this morning. Seeing not too bad (II-III), but dew from overnight rainfall getting hold of the optics quite quickly. That said, managed to get this sketch from my 8.5" scope:

8.5" x220 magnification

neodymium filter

03.35 UT - 04.20 UT

System I: 102 degrees

System II: 279 degrees

The disturbed NEB looks amazing. It is clearly split into two components now with a central rift. The rift was closed in parts by material that seemed to drift across the gap. On the southern edge the NEB was dark all along, but with some more intense clumps that spewed out prominences into the EZ. The boundary between the EZ and the NEB appeared uneven. The northern side of the NEB was defined by a darker linear feature too. This was less intense than on the southern boundary, but also seemed uneven with small festoons possibly working their way off the bottom of the band.

The EZ itself was noticeably disrupted. A broken thin band seemed to come and go across the disc.In the south the SEB was quite dark. It appeared darkest in its central and northern areas. On the southern boundary it seemed wispier with a thin linear feature running along the central / left part of the band up against the STZ. Some variations in darkness were seen within the SEB too.

The STB was fairly prominent this morning as a nice thin band, and shading was seen in both the SPR and NPR. All in all it was utterly brilliant!

[Mike73]

I've no idea what those abbreviations mean but it sure sounds like you had a good night!

Looking forward to sketching and learning more about Jupiter as soon as its in a good direction for me.

[DarkerSky]

Thanks Mike.

On the abbreviations - NEB is the north equatorial belt, which is the lower main belt in the sketch. SEB is the south equatorial belt. The EZ is the Equatorial Zone, normally a fairly clear zone between the 2 main belts. The NPR is the North Polar Region and the SPR is the South Polar Region.

[nightskystargazer]

Seb,

Nice sketch of Jupiter .

CS,KLU,

.

Tom

[Venus_is_my_friend]

Great sketch! I love the fact that you could draw the same side of Jupiter a few nights later and it never looks the same.