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First View of Jupiter - it Was Stunningly Beautiful.

ak785

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ak785

ak785

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Clear skies so I rushed outside, took less than 10 minutes to get set up with the Celestron 127 SLT. I'm much more confident in setting it up now. Pop up tripod legs, ensure its level, move outside for 10 - 15 minutes (leave dust cap and EP cover on).

So i removed the covers, placed the 25mm in, and lined it up with the moon, it looked stunning, a great amount of detail I could see craters clearly. Switched to the 9mm and it was even better, more detail, I could almost see depth in the craters. With this new found confidence, and the scope aligned, time to try Jupiter.

Lined it up and I saw a white splash of light, so i slowly slowly turned the focus knob one way then the other, and i remembered seeing pictures on here of it being small, so i kept going from big to small until i let the scope settle from the vibration of me focussing, and oh my.

In came Jupiter, and I assume the 4 galilean moons. There were 4 sharp dots of light around Jupiter. I am sitting here absolutely blown away. I could make up bands on the jovian world. I couldn't quite see the GRS, but I dont know whether it was in view or not.

Its my 2nd time viewing through a scope and I nailed Jupiter - I'm so happy I just wish and I'm really disappointed I didnt have my laptop set up with my SCP900 attached because it would have made a great photo of that I am sure.

I'm absolutely blown away. :grin:

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DonRemus

DonRemus

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Good work. Jupiter IS awesome isn't it. Always worth a look. Have heard good reports about the SCP900, looking forward to seeing your images in future.

I sketch - I have no suitable camera!

Clear skies

Gary

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mullac2001

mullac2001

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saw jupiter for the first time at alice holt in farnham a few weeks ago , at a stargazing event put on by farnham astro .

my first wow moment for a long long time.

also saw the iss quite by coincidence and does that thing move !

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Mrlangston

Mrlangston

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I found it in my first viewing session and keep wanting to go back and look. It blows my tiny mind that I am looking at another planet that is 400 million miles away! Seeing the cloud bands makes it seem so real and I am almost in disbelief that I can see it from my back garden.

When I first found Saturn the sensation was even greater. A ringed planet is something that is used so often in fiction that is it hardly believable until you see it for yourself.

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ak785

ak785

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I found it in my first viewing session and keep wanting to go back and look. It blows my tiny mind that I am looking at another planet that is 400 million miles away! Seeing the cloud bands makes it seem so real and I am almost in disbelief that I can see it from my back garden.

When I first found Saturn the sensation was even greater. A ringed planet is something that is used so often in fiction that is it hardly believable until you see it for yourself.

I have to agree, I think Saturn is my next view if i can get it. I need to get a picture of Jupiter, so i think i'm going to get a laptop set up so i can plug in m y SCP900 and get some images captured. What I saw tonight is fixed in the front of my mind, it was incredible. A planet 400 million miles away, with four of its most famous moons, sharp pinpricks of light. I just thought of Galileo turning to the heavens for the first time and seeing that. Its a profound experience and if it wasn't for the clouds coming in, i'd be out there still looking at Jupiter.

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ak785

ak785

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Great post m8, I remember seeing Jupiter for the first time, I was like a 5 year old child on Christmas morning lol :)

Wait till you see Saturn!! :)

That pretty much describes me right now :) - I've just been out again and looked at it, it is just incredible it really is.

Nice post, it is amazing to look at isn't it?, I spent the first three nights after buying my scope pretty much solely looking at it.

Can't wait for saturn

Thats my 3rd night out with the scope, and my second time just staring at jupiter. I need to get a power tank at the end of the month as my scope isn't tracking it, and i think its because the batteries are running out. I also need a laptop to start recording what the telescope is aimed at.

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ak785

ak785

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Great post, it's always good to hear others' enthusiasm, most of us have a wow moment when we first see Jupiter and Saturn.

To help you sought out the moons take a look at:- http://www.skyandtel...script/jupiter#

A similar site does the same when you see Saturn:- http://www.skyandtel...t/saturn_moons#

Thank you very much, those are fantastic links.

I'm smiling from ear to ear, it is a profound moment indeed. I've just tried imaging it with my SPC900. I was sitting here and had a bit of an "I wonder if that will work". So i opened my window as wide as it could go (not great because i nearly couldn't read it once i came to close it). Pointed my scope at jupiter and lined it up. Plugged in the SPC900 into the EP slot, and there was Jupiter centered on my screen. The only problem was clouds have obscured it and the seeing was horrific when i could see it so it wasn't worth capturing in sharpcap. However, this has proven that i shouldn't need a laptop or to go downstairs and then outside to image it.

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M4lcs67

M4lcs67

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Yes indeed. This hobby called astronomy is a fantastic thing. I bought my first scope nearly 2 years ago and have pushed on since then when the weather has allowed. I should have done it years ago. I absolutely love it now and marveling at the night sky from my back garden here on planet Earth makes you feel very small sometimes. Just wait until you see Saturn. If you were blown away with Jupiter then wait for the ringed planet. Awesome.

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ak785

ak785

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I cant wait for it, what time of year is it at its most visible? At the moment it isn't appearing until 3am ish.

Those Baader Planetarium eye pieces, do they give better quality and better magnification? Should i see more detail with one of those EP's?

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ak785

ak785

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Its just somawesome and rather unsuspected that we can actually see another planet. Makes me wonder how hard can it be to actuallymgo there if we can see it so clearly with budget telescopes :rolleyes:

I fully agree, I genuinely don't think that anything can necessarily prepare you for the jaw dropping moment you see another planet from your own back yard. Particularly something that's 400 million miles away, it takes the light 38 minutes to get from Jupiter to Earth I've read.

Galileo saw Jupiter with a telescope that was nowhere near as complex as what an average person can own nowadays for just a few hundred pounds.

My celestron will let me see more of the universe in an infinitely shorter time than Galileo ever saw in his lifetime.

Going there would be slightly harder, certainly from earth, I believe the future of space travel is advanced propulsion systems and we launch from a base on the moon.

I can sometimes imagine flying past Jupiter one day looking out and thinking back to looking at it from my garden. If I won the lottery id have the biggest scope money could buy! And a ticket aboard Virgin Galactica.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

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EQ5

EQ5

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When I look at Jupiter and its four large (Galiliean) moons I always think of Galileo pointing his rudimentary telescope skyward in 1609 and seeing the same sight. Of course for him it was so much more significant - as those moons were clearly going around Jupiter - and not around the Earth - in clear contradiction of the church´s teaching at the time!

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ak785

ak785

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When I look at Jupiter and its four large (Galiliean) moons I always think of Galileo pointing his rudimentary telescope skyward in 1609 and seeing the same sight. Of course for him it was so much more significant - as those moons were clearly going around Jupiter - and not around the Earth - in clear contradiction of the church´s teaching at the time!

Exactly.

I think everyone who has an interest in Astronomy and who views Jupiter for the first time thinks exactly the same thing. 1609 is in relative terms yesterday when you consider how long we've been on earth for. As rudimentary as his scope was, he was able to align to Jupiter, get it in focus, and visualise the 4 moons. And the realisation that everything he had been told to believe was wholly incorrect.

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