Heads up - Jupiter

[chiltonstar]

For the Night Owls amongst us, 04:45 would be a good time for Jupiter tomorrow am - weather permitting. A double moon transit, plus shadows, plus the GRS.

Chris

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Sounds great, but the forecast is dreadful here

[Stu]

Forecast showing clear at the moment, but whether I can drag myself out of bed is another matter!

Thanks for the heads up anyway Chris ?

EDIT Getting pretty low by then anyway, views won't be great ?

[g30rg313]

Same here ? clouds and rain

[chiltonstar]

18 minutes ago, Stu said:

Forecast showing clear at the moment, but whether I can drag myself out of bed is another matter!

Thanks for the heads up anyway Chris ?

EDIT Getting pretty low by then anyway, views won't be great ?

Yes unfortunately, 10 degrees up at 4:45 although the show starts a bit earlier when J is about 20 degrees up.

[Stu]

GRS actually transits at 8.02pm as well for the ones who don't like early mornings! Forecast looking possible for that time too. Not as exciting as all the other transits though.

Near full moon very close too. Will look great in a pair of low power binos in the same field as Jupiter. This is the fov of my 8x56 pair.

[Grotemobile]

http://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/peacehaven/bn10-8/astronomy-weather/327916

1 hour ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Sounds great, but the forecast is dreadful here

Same here..

 

Steve.

[Stu]

Very close conjunction of Europa and Io at 8.09pm too, 3" separation

[laudropb]

Unfortunately the forecast here is for rain.

[tony4563]

A good hours viewing of Jupiter tonight, although the seeing was so so.

GRS quite dark and prominent  and Io and Europa very close as mentioned earlier

[Stu]

Some nice views out there now. Seeing is a bit ropey and my collimation is a little off, but GRS clear earlier as were the two close moons Europa and Io. Missed their closest approach due to cloud unfortunately.

Some lovely detail in the SEB and NEB currently when the occasional good seeing spell comes through.

Tried the binoviewers in the Portaball for the first time. The mag required to get to focus using barlows was too high for the conditions. I was using 25mm eyepieces so may need to get some 32mm Plossls to try to keep things down a bit. They are great in the Tak, but I suspect may be trickier to manage in the Portaball. No issues with collimation though, and I was enjoying the relaxed view using two eyes.

[Special K]

Seeing is permitting some good viewing at times at 170x in the ED80. I can just queeze in our moon plus Jupiter and its 4 moons using the 31mm Nag. The Moon is shaped like an egg at the edge of the FOV but I've got five moons in there!  Io and Europa just able to be split now at 19x. I was going to resist and try for Saturn in the morning but this is getting interesting and the camomile tea is helping!  Clear skies if you're lookin'

 

[iPeace]

Got home late from work and looked up to see Luna and Jupiter passing in and out of view through the clouds. Had not had a chance to put the new eyepieces to work so I went for it. Thank Giotto for grab-and-go. Minutes later, scope was up and humming. Yes, there were passing clouds and yes, there was plenty of "jet wash" but the 4.7mm Ethos is the business - BOOM, Great Red Spot. And I love it when two of Jupiter's moons are so close together I think I must be out of focus...until I realize what I'm seeing. And what a luxury to be able to slew over and walk the Moon... Stayed out until GRS had rotated out of view and the clouds had decided to no longer pass, but hang around. So not the best viewing conditions - but a great impromptu "bonus" session, exactly what I wanted to be able to do. This is so cool!

[Saganite]

Yep, out since 7.45 with the refractor. The seeing is not good, but enjoying the session greatly. Not a hint of trap E & F, but Jupiter was worth the effort, the GRS, Io and Europa, 4 bands with a fair amount of detail in the Equatorial belts, despite the glare of the Moon....... wonderful.  

[chiltonstar]

I've just had an hour with the grab 'n go (127 Mak on Vixen Porta2) on Jupiter plus moons, very nice at x190, with seeing 4/5. Interestingly enough, the seeing in the opposite direction and nearer the horizon - Epsilon Lyrae is absolutely appalling, with double pairs looking like fuzzy melons.....

Chris

[Pete Presland]

Unfortunately the seeing was dreadful again!  and the jetstream was clear of the UK, allegedly!

Woke up at 3:30am and was set up by around 4am in the only spot from the garden that Jupiter was going to be visible. The seeing was poor to begin, but by the time both moons were transiting, plus shadows and the GRS, it was hideous. I think this was in no small part down to the altitude of Jupiter, which is pretty low by 4:30. Both moons visible on the disc immediately, soon to be followed by there shadows and then a short time after the GRS. Got a few decent glimpses of the main event between the waves going across it. 

Still managed to watch and record the event and as they say "you have got to be in it to win it!"  The moon and Jupiter looked beautiful to the naked eye as they slipped towards the horizon. By the time i packed away, the moon had turned a superb red in colour and Jupiter was still visible above her. Not a bad way to end the early morning session!

More transits to come, lets hope we get a bit luckier next time