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An evening with Jupiter

kerrylewis

By kerrylewis
in Observing - Planetary

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kerrylewis

kerrylewis

Posted
Posted

The BBC forecast was hopelessly wrong but I went with Clear Outside and they were right  - a clear evening that is just beginning to mist up now.

Having checked my old pal Lovejoy Q2 I then spent the rest of the time with Jupiter. I watched Callisto approaching the disc and starting its transit. Callisto is the darkest of the moons and almost looks like a shadow as it transits but it is not as black as the actual shadow which followed about 30 mins later. They are both now in transit. Great to see the moon approach the planet and seeming to almost get sucked in by it.  Also the shadow starting as a tiny bite out of the planet's disc and then becoming clear as a black 'bullet hole'. 

Meanwhile Ganymede and Io were approaching each other on the other side of the planet. They gradually merged and then separated looking like an attractive double star but one whose separation was constantly changing. I could also clearly see that one moon's disc (Ganymede) was larger than the other.

I love watching these Jupiter events and it was good to get some at a more hospitable hour - they always seem to be a two in the morning!

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John

John

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Great views of Jupiter right now !

2 black spots in transit (Callisto plus shadow ?) plus the GRS and a fair amount of other stuff too. :smiley:

200x is the "right" power though for the finest detail, even with my 12 dob. 265x is great for a few seconds then wobbles, then good, then wobbles etc, etc, 200x is much steadier.

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John

John

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And then the view disappeared behind the clouds ....... :sad:

The moon transits and the GRS had more or less reached the central meridian of the planet. Nice while it lasted :smiley:

"Clear Outside" got it pretty much spot on though.

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Steve777

Steve777

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Hi all,

Was just about to ask what the extra 'spot' was since I counted 3 moons! Ah, a shadow ... not great seeing here, but thought I glimpsed GRS at the top of my view, ie Southern Belt. Seen GRS better, but pleasant surprise with the transit.

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bingevader

bingevader

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Sorry Stu, best session with Jupiter I've had in a long time.

I hadn't realised it was Callisto and it's shadow that were transiting until I came back in.

I could just see two dark dots, one slightly sharper than the other.

Bullet hole is a good description of it Kerry.

GRS was rather splendid too, slightly orangey, nice eddy behind it.

The two equatorial bands were very prominent with activity along their borders.

Several other bands heading off to both poles.

Worked my way up from the 8mm, through the 7mm to the 6mm for the clearest and steadiest of views.

Still pleasant through the 5mm, so tried the 2x barlow with the 8mm!

My goodness, never had the conditions to try it before.

As you say John, the clarity did come and go a bit, but as this was what I've been used to putting up with at much low magnifications recently, it was well worth the opportunity to give it a go.

I did briefly try the 7mm and the 2x barlow having read the favourable reviews of the 3.2mm BST, but ended up with a fuzz tonight.

Spent a very happy half hour moving between the 7mm, 6mm and 8mm+2x barlow until the mist rolled in. :)

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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I set up at 8pm and used the latest Tal100, at first i thought i had bought a very poor scope, so i put the old one out it gave similar views, to the eye the sky looked stunning but in the ep it was awful, really struggled to get any detail, but it was improving as Jupiter gained a little more height, by 9pm things were a lot better but still lots of moisture in the air

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MAN or ASTROMAN

MAN or ASTROMAN

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I set up at 8pm and used the latest Tal100, at first i thought i had bought a very poor scope, so i put the old one out it gave similar views, to the eye the sky looked stunning but in the ep it was awful, really struggled to get any detail, but it was improving as Jupiter gained a little more height, by 9pm things were a lot better but still lots of moisture in the air

I had exactly the same experience trying to observe Jupiter and some double stars on sunday night.On the face of it,the sky looked very promising,but rubbish under any higher magnification.

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Astro Imp

Astro Imp

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Had a great night enjoying the transit and shadow, to be honest I hadn't expected to see the moon itself, that was a first for me but have seen several shadow transits. Watching Io and Ganymede do their little dance was fascinating. I was surprised how quickly Io separated from Ganymede.

There's a transit of Io tonight but unfortunately looks like solid cloud here.

The only regret the seeing wasn't like this for the triple transit a couple of weeks ago.

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mjpfc

mjpfc

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Too much Ground level mist for me last night at Sandown, though I had a quick look at J and Q2 trhrough my big bins.

But from Bembridge just on finishing work I noticed that Jupiter and Venus were opposite each other in the darkening sky.

The whole thing looked serene.

ISS put in a show too, western horizon to a fade out just short of the zenith (a little south in actual fact)

Lots of tired Coastguards going "oooh" when I pointed them out.

Outreach at work, at work........Rock on

Mick

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