Heads up ! Triple transit event. January 2015.

[cotterless45]

Check out the early morning of the 24 th of January. Triple shadow transit, the next one due 20th March 2032. Times in UT.

Culminates....01.30 , GRS visible but goes at 02.00

03.11 Callisto shadow

04.35 Io shadow,with three shadows visible.

04.55 Io crosses.

Callisto joins in at 06.16, with the triple event kicking off at 06.28.

Hopefully it'll be perfect skies. I'll be looking out, just spotted Saturn rising in the east . Lots to see , hurrah !

Nick.

[Moonshane]

Thanks for the heads up Nick.

[stevend]

I put it in the SGL calender last month and attached S&Ts pdf of all 2015 transits and occults between Jupiter and the Gallilean moons: http://stargazerslounge.com/calendar/event/1000-triple-shadow-transit-of-jupiter/

[JB80]

At least it's kind enough to be on a weekend.

[Davey-T]

Tried the last one in June in twilight, practiced the night before in nice clear skies, next day clouds 

Will try again.

Dave

[JamesF]

I wanted to capture some images of the last couple, but the weather was very unkind.  Here's hoping for better luck this time.

James

[Moonshane]

Don't forget this guys!

[scarp15]

An event that would be well worth the effort to witness, thanks for the reminder. I have a horrible feeling that the weather here might have other ideas, though time yet for a forecast change to better circumstances.

[Saganite]

Cheers Nick. I just pray that the weather is kind, because that will be a treat.

[michael23]

Thanks for posting, I needed the reminder, here's hoping this rubbish weather does a bunk by then!

[moriniboy]

Weather permitting it should look like this...

[Astro Imp]

Cheers Nick, I've been eagerly awaiting this since I first heard about it some time ago but it's not looking great weatherwise, must all pray to the cloud gods. 

[Pete Presland]

The skies are due to clear around 4am in Bedfordshire, so I will crossing everything before I set the alarm tomorrow night!

[Ibbo!]

saw a Europa occult Ganymede the other morning

well worth the effort

though this time I will have the power out to the mount

this should be a great sight too

[Pig]

Cheers Nick,

It looks like the weather is going to play ball in Northants from around 1am so hopefully I will catch all of it

[stevend]

Skies were fantastic last night and it looks like more of the same tonight. The morning of the gas giants ?, after the main event Saturn will be in the south.

[kerrylewis]

Forecast is good in this area as Shaun has noted, but rain expected earlier, so I plan to leave a scope out under a plastic sheet. Not gonna miss this one! 

[cotterless45]

Same here ! Hopefully it'll not join the Venus transit and most meteor showers in seeing nothing !

Written all the times on a post it note to stick near the ep, hurrah !

Nick.

[Qualia]

If the clouds play game this will also be a good opportunity for newcomers to enjoy a spectacular and rare event.

Of all the planets, Jupiter will show the greatest amount of detail and is relatively easy to observe with any size telescope from just about any site, even in the city.

Whilst observing Jupiter, it is nice to remind ourselves that it is some 143,000 km in diameter, over ten times bigger than Earth and about 655,000,000 km away from us. We can also imagine Jupiter as a solar system in miniature and that the play of Galilean Moons as they orbit the gas giant are - to an extent - analogous to our own planets orbiting the Sun.  

If out, it's best to start by identifying the four moons first. The brightest ought to be Ganymede, followed by Callisto. It's quite tricky to identify which one is Io and Europa due to their similar size, so you may need a little help from some astronomy software program.

It's a good idea to identify the two major belts, and any minor belts and after that, if possible, festoons, tiny ovals and other atmospheric disturbances. You'll have to be out earlier, as Nick suggests, to observe The Great Red Spot. As BigMakStutov writes, it might even be possible for many to discern Callisto's transit.

When the moon's pass over Jupiter's surface they will cast shadows like tiny black bullet holes and each shadow should take about an hour to cross the planet.

If you're not imaging, it might be a nice idea to sketch what you see - even if the conditions aren't brilliant. This will not only slow you down to capture more detail and give you something to do while observing but will also be a nice record of the event. We could even set up a thread to highlight some of our results tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great night/early morning

[Paul73]

Here's hoping for clear sky. And, that it is warmer than last night!

3am until daylight. Can't wait.

Paul

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Not looking good here, forecast-wise, but then forecasts have been thoroughly unreliable lately

[JB80]

It's our anniversary tomorrow so if I can get up early to make coffee and breakfast   I will be in the good books.

It's going to be after 7am here and low in the sky, I'm not holding out for spectacular results.

[bish]

I've got very tall trees SW and NW, with a gap in between (ie  West).  Looks like I might be able to catch the start of the  triple shadow 4.30 to 5.00am ish.

[eyepod]

As luck would have it, i have just had a 50ft yew tree removed from the west facing side of the garden....... just in time for things like this......

[kerrylewis]

Looks wonderful in the Gas Giants app simulation. At about 5.50 Io's shadow catches up with Callisto's and they are very close then Io's overtakes it as Europa's shadow joins the party. AND Io and Callisto themselves are also transiting at the same time - wow!