Wow that was more like it!

[DaveGarland]

At last a decent clear night After what seems like an eternity I finally got out for a bit of proper viewing. Sadly I've had to pack up fairly early as I start an 11 hour shift tomorrow at 7 but what a lovely evening. And aside of all the usual things to see I managed to bag me a couple of firsts. Number 1 was splitting Rigel. Rigel is hard for me as the front of my house is all street lights but the back garden is north facing so Rigel is behind houses. There is a small gap between mine and the neighbours house though which gave me about 10/15 mins and I took my chance. Number 2 was a complete surprise! I looked at Jupiter and quite clearly could see a dot on the surface. A quick check on Sky Safari showed it was the shadow of Io :) Isn't it nicer when something's a surprise!

Off to bed happy

[floppygoose]

Good results Dave, maybe our luck is about to change, and we may be in for some good, clear nights - let's hope so.

Phil

[JamesF]

It's been a very pleasant change, it has to be said.

James

[Khw]

Hi dave I too have just got in from the garden and have been viewing Jupiter . I did notice a small dot and was hoping it would be a shadow cast by one of her moons and not dust or dirt on my mirror . So glad I read your post . Im amazed at seeing shadows on Jupiters surface in my own back garden . Amazing ! Kevin

[DaveGarland]

Yeah I can't stop grinning! Seems a bit daft really but I'm chuffed to bits. I saw Io close to Jupiter when I first set up. Whenever I get the "Alignment Successful" message on my GOTO, I always go straight for Jupiter. Partly to check the alignment worked and partly because, well, it's just so cool to look at! Before I packed up I saw Io emerge again with the shadow still there. In hindsight I'm kicking myself for not pointing my webcam at it! Next time eh

[cotterless45]

Neat, got aligned and had a lot of time in Gemini, then onto Ursa Major before high cloud came in. Good to get even a few hours in,

Nick.

[Andymarrison]

Great night here too - completely clear and the seeing was the best I've had for a long time. Started off with M35 - stunning view with the 13mm Ethos - then M42, and managed to see the 5th star in the Trapezium clearly for the first time, first with the Ethos and then with the 8.5mm XF. Spent the rest of the evening looking at Jupiter - I also first thought tat I'd got a bit of muck on the diagonal before I realised I was looking at Io's shadow - very cool thing to see! I was able to Barlow the XF so that finally I was at about 400x magnification, and whilst things were starting to get fuzzy by that point, there were still periods of good sharpness, which I guess shows how good the seeing was. Hope we don't have to wait too long for another night like that!

[Pig]

It was brill - I had my best night last night - I woke up in the shed about 4am freezing to death

[ShellShock]

Yes I was very pleased with last night. When it was sunny yesterday, I used the Jupiter's Moons app to check what was on for the evening - no GRS, but IO was transiting! I had never seen any moon transit before. Just before it was due to start I had a bit of cloud but then it cleared so I was able to see the beginning of the transit (19:26) through my 7mm EP, at magnification of 214. This was pushing the optics a bit, and the image was shaky/blurry, but I could just about see the slightly brighter spot of IO against the dark band (South Equatorial Belt I think). I watched it for a about 10 minutes, as IO was swimming in and out of view. I tried a lower magnification (18mm at 83 times) but IO was not visible, although Jupiter was much sharper. I then gazed at M42 for some time - Trapeziumn looked very bright through my 18mm EP.

Back to Jupiter - but I could no longer make out IO so I went inside to warm up. IO's shadow started transiting at 20:39 so I was at the eyepiece again to make sure not to miss it. Just at that point a belt of cloud went over, but Jupiter still shone through it. Stranglely the shadow was much easier to see than IO itself, even though the shadow was also against the dark SEM. However the shadow was a black, distinct pinprick, whereas the SEM is more a murky brown, so there is quite a bit of contrast. Still could not see IO itrself - perhaps it was on the southern boundary of the SEM and therefore lost in the paler boundary edge?

Isn't it wonderful to realise that as you are watching IO and its shadow, the sun is behind your shoulder with thousands of miles of earth rock between you and the sun so you cannot see it, but 500 million miles away on Jupiter you are watching the same sun shining on a little rocky world which is turn in casting a shadow on Jupiter, just as we cast shadows when out in the sunshine? And the separation between IO and its shadow tells you the angle at which the sun is shining, and therefore whereabouts the sun must be in the sky. Changing from minute to minute as you watch.

IO finished transiting at 21:37 where I caught up with it again; it became visible once more as it reached Jupiter's limb. (Is there a reason why IO should be more visible the closer it is to the limb?). Then the tiniest imperfection appeared in the sharp limb of Jupiter, gradually increasing to a pimple and finally detaching itself from Jupiter altogether.

Also saw the Andromeda Galaxy for the first time in my 10*50 bins; just a fuzzy patch, but I was pleasantly surprised because I thought the light pollution and murky skies would be too bad where I live.

All in all, the best night observing so far.

[Stu]

IO finished transiting at 21:37 where I caught up with it again; it became visible once more as it reached Jupiter's limb. (Is there a reason why IO should be more visible the closer it is to the limb?). Then the tiniest imperfection appeared in the sharp limb of Jupiter, gradually increasing to a pimple and finally detaching itself from Jupiter altogether.

Jupiter darkens towards the limb so it makes it easier to pick up Io which is bright. I rarely see Io transitting the main part of the disk but often pick it up as it nears the limb.

Stu