Jupiter!

[Jimbob]

well, I know there's pretty much no one alive at this time of the morning but I couldnt sleep and I've been up since 3

So I decided to have a look outside and found that it was an incredibly clear, dark sky and shining away brilliantly to the south east (conveniently the way my bedroom window faces) was Jupiter!

You may not think that this a big deal but I'm new to this and it's the first time I've seen it . Had a look through the binos and I can only imagine how good it must look through a telescope! the sun is just rising just now and I can still see it

Very happy Jamie this morning

[AlexG]

Good for you, Jimbob.

It's really good to grab the 5 or 10 minutes when it pops up ahead of the sun - even though it is low it is magnificent! Better than waiting till 2009 or 10!

AG

[Casus belli]

If its still dark enough when you see Jupiter you can also see 4 of its moons through binoculars. Its interesting to see how they change position over the course of a few nights.

[adrastea]

I keep meaning to set the alarm, but it hasn't happened yet... well done for getting a glimpse of my favourite planet

[Jimbob]

well as I said it was completely coinsidental that it happened lol but as soon as I looked out I just thought "Yeah it must be.." then I checked on Stellarium and I was right lol. Was pretty damn bright!

[Plastic chicken]

I`ll never forget the first time i saw it, been my favorite object ever since. DSOs are great but lets be honest which object NEVER looks the same twice!!! Well done mate, you`ll be hooked the first time you see in through a scope!!

PC

[adrastea]

I`ll never forget the first time i saw it, been my favorite object ever since. DSOs are great but lets be honest which object NEVER looks the same twice!!! Well done mate, you`ll be hooked the first time you see in through a scope!!

PC

you're right about that - I remember the first time I saw it through a scope as well. I was just small and it changed the way I saw everything. I think it is the defining moment of addiction for quite a lot of astronomers....

[Plastic chicken]

Jupiter or Saturn for most i bet!!!

PC

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Jupiter is awesome, though I've only seen it once properly due to bad horizons. I set the OMC140 up in a bedroom and saw it through the double glazing. I had to get the boy out of bed to have a look as it was so inspiring.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[saturn5]

Jupiter for me is amazing,surface detail keeps changing ,4 galilean moons ever changing positions,a few years back when it was higher in the sky i would spend night upon night viewing Jupiter,just have to patient for another couple of years till the planet "climbs"the sky again.

[Astro_Baby]

I had a similar experience about a week ago. I woke up at about 3am and was ambling about and looked out the bedroom window. Hmmm I thought - thats very bright - cant be Venus and too bright for a star, very low on the SE horizon so I assumed it was Jupiter. I dragged my Skywatcher 130PM into the bedroom. Pushed all my makeup off the dressing table and opened the window freezing my partner half to death in the process. Yes I know you shouldnt look at stuff from inside but I am 3 stories up in a block of flats and at ground level Jupiter wouldnt have been visible courtesy of the block of flats opposite and if I had messed about getting dressed and dragging the scope downstairs I may have missed it altogether.

10 minutes observing with badly set up kit is better than two hours of precision set up with nothing to view in my mind.

I am new enough to all of this to be mildly obsessive - enough so that I didndt mind throwing a coat on and wrecking the bedroom plus waking up my partner to the sound of a telescope being dragged through the bedroom and cranked around into position.

Anyway - all set up - rough and read polar alignment ( cos I know if the legs are facing a certain wall in a certain way its more or less accurate ) and a peek through the eyepiece - bang on - Jupiter and three moons visible.

I made a rough sketch of it that I transferred using an art package later on - an amazing sight. Even my partner once they had been woken up was amazed ( sort of ).

Heres the sketch - dont laugh cos its not great. First one I have done in about 20 years.

[Jimbob]

Pretty good sketch if you ask me!!!

I wish I could see the moons on it, that would be awesome It's gotten harder to see Jupiter in the past few weeks from my bedroom window as the trees outside have grown massively green and lush, blocking out much of the view of the lower horizon that I had. But oh well, at least I saw it when I did