GRS Hunt

[astromackem]

I had a decent view of Jupiter tonight- not great seeing but some periods of OK seeing.

I knew the GRS was visible on the upper band so was really straining to see it (120x).

The result? Maybe but could have been my imagination.

Report from Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, 00:00- 00:30

[cotterless45]

Neat ! You mostly need good seeing and good transparency.

It's a ticklish wee beastie as compared to the bigger darker spot that it used to be.

It helps to look for the dip in the belt first that hold the spot. Some nights can be so fickle that observing goes from superb to bad within seconds,

Nick.

[Stu]

I was out till around 10.30 last night with the 10". I could just see it rotating into view but the seeing was pretty bad. Long periods of blurriness with the odd patch of reasonable clarity.

Saturn looked pretty bad too, low down and plenty of atmospheric CA, but Cassini division still visible at times because the rings are so widely spread. Need to get a good night on this at opposition.

Keep trying, perhaps find an evening when GRS is in show before its fully dark. If you can pick Jupiter up in the scope it will be higher up than at midnight and also observing during twilight seems to bring the colour out too

[astromackem]

Yeah will have to try twilight. Jupiter is very low down later on these days.

As for Saturn theres a massive tree in my way so I may have to wait until its due south earlier. Cant wait to see it

[Roy Challen]

I was out till around 10.30 last night with the 10". I could just see it rotating into view but the seeing was pretty bad. Long periods of blurriness with the odd patch of reasonable clarity.Saturn looked pretty bad too, low down and plenty of atmospheric CA, but Cassini division still visible at times because the rings are so widely spread. Need to get a good night on this at opposition.Keep trying, perhaps find an evening when GRS is in show before its fully dark. If you can pick Jupiter up in the scope it will be higher up than at midnight and also observing during twilight seems to bring the colour out too

Same here. The seeing was ok, but transparency less so, just couldn't get properly sharp focus. Noticed the CA too, thought something was wrong with my eyepieces/telescope for while. Got my first view of Saturn this year though, so happy with that.

[astromackem]

Neat ! You mostly need good seeing and good transparency.

It's a ticklish wee beastie as compared to the bigger darker spot that it used to be.

It helps to look for the dip in the belt first that hold the spot. Some nights can be so fickle that observing goes from superb to bad within seconds,

Nick.

Cheers Nick.

The size of the disc isnt big enough to really pick out much detail at all- certainly not enough to see dips in the bands. I think I need more magnification and some good seeing.

[RLWP]

As for Saturn theres a massive tree in my way so I may have to wait until its due south earlier. Cant wait to see it

We have just had an enormous conifer removed - I can see Arcturus now!

Richard

[Stu]

Should still be doable with x120 in your scope, I've spotted it in a 60mm refractor at similar mag.

A bit more would help though, x150 to x180 should be good in reasonable seeing.

Check your collimation too, that makes a big difference

[Paul73]

Tomorrow (Monday) night is looking good for Jupiter. GRS, double transit and a tricky double shodow transit!!!

Nice clear view earlier this evening but GRS sadly not facing us.

Paul

[astromackem]

Tomorrow (Monday) night is looking good for Jupiter. GRS, double transit and a tricky double shodow transit!!!

Nice clear view earlier this evening but GRS sadly not facing us.

Paul

You sure? All i can see is GRS after midnight but no transits?

[Paul73]

Sorry, not sure where I got that from. The perils of typing from memory. Shame as I was looking forward to a busy jupiter night.

At least there is a GRS!

Paul

[Stu]

Easily done Paul, I remember alerting everyone excitedly about something similar a while back. Somebody kindly pointed out that Jupiter was below the horizon at that point, I hadn't thought of that!!