Heads up - Lunar/Jupiter Conjunction Sunday 17th

[Stu]

Just noticed this on SkySafari, the moon and Jupiter under 4 degrees apart on Sunday night/Monday morning. Worth a widefield shot perhaps?

[Gina]

Hmm...  Thank you for that   May not be so good for looking at Jupiter though...

[DRT]

Thanks for the heads-up, Stu.

I'll be in Belfast but might take a pair of bins to take a look

[laudropb]

Let's hope the skies are clear.

[Grotemobile]

4 hours ago, Gina said:

Hmm...  Thank you for that   May not be so good for looking at Jupiter though...

Just been out now, & it is a bit bright to see anything on Jupiter.

[Stu]

4 hours ago, Gina said:

Hmm...  Thank you for that   May not be so good for looking at Jupiter though...

Actually it's not always a bad thing Gina, the extra brightness from the moon can mean that Jupiter shows more colour visually than at other times.

[Swithin StCleeve]

Spent a good half hour on Jupiter with my 8" reflector and it's hard to see anything beyond the two cloud bands. I'm hoping for a bit better seeing later when it gets cooler. It was very swimmy earlier.

[John]

20 minutes ago, Swithin StCleeve said:

Spent a good half hour on Jupiter with my 8" reflector and it's hard to see anything beyond the two cloud bands. I'm hoping for a bit better seeing later when it gets cooler. It was very swimmy earlier.

It's been a bit "swimmy" here as well. Seems to be a little better now as Ganymede is about to slip behind Jupiters disk but not the best I've seen it by some way.

 

 

[Swithin StCleeve]

47 minutes ago, John said:

It's been a bit "swimmy" here as well. Seems to be a little better now as Ganymede is about to slip behind Jupiters disk but not the best I've seen it by some way.

 

 

How did you know it's Ganymede? I go by the chart in Astronomy Now, but it gets a bit confusing. Someone told me there's an app for your phone, but I've never downloaded an app. I'm not very techy. I'm still using a pencil to record what I see...

[Dave In Vermont]

I don't know if it works on phones, but it does on computers - Jupiter2. This is a software-program (FREE) that will show you what moon is what and can be set to anytime you wish. It also shows you where and when the GRS (Great Red Spot) is:

http://astrosurf.com/rondi/jupiter/

Hope this can help,

Dave

[John]

1 hour ago, Swithin StCleeve said:

How did you know it's Ganymede? I go by the chart in Astronomy Now, but it gets a bit confusing. Someone told me there's an app for your phone, but I've never downloaded an app. I'm not very techy. I'm still using a pencil to record what I see...

I use this:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/observing-tools/jupiter_moons/jupiter.html#

plus the freeware planetarium Cartes du Ciel, which is pretty accurate:

https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start

Also, through my scope I can see that the 4 brightest moons of Jupiter vary slightly in apparent diameter. Ganymede, being the largest, shows a noticably larger disk than the others.

[DRT]

On 15/04/2016 at 19:30, DRT said:

Thanks for the heads-up, Stu.

I'll be in Belfast but might take a pair of bins to take a look

Here is the stunning view from Belfast...

 

Not quite as good as I hoped for

[DemosL]

I was able to get both in the same FOV of my 15 x 70 binoculars.

[Stu]

Lovely views here. Looked at both individually with the scope but the naked eye view of the conjunction was fantastic

[iPeace]

Last night was clear, cold and absolutely marvelous. The scopeless view of Luna and Jove was too overpowering to spoil by the use of optics, so we got down to some serious Stellarium-assisted hopping. Cannot see the Andromeda Galaxy through trees (lesson learned). M103 seems invisible until I try to avert my gaze, at which point either my imagination goes to work or...wow, that's spooky. Look directly at that spot, and all that enchanting stuff I either was or was not seeing disappears... M37, M36 and M38 are now becoming familiar and I've discovered that the use of the 26 Nagler on the double clusters in Perseus makes my toes freeze off. Well, maybe not but despite the grand view it was time to pack up. Fantastic night.

[iPeace]

I should add that scope (TV85 - there can be only one) had rejoined me here at the camp site, which makes several galaxies of difference. Not being in possession of dew bands or any such thing, I used Nan's old fleece woolen blanket as a tartan toga styled scope cosy to keep the optics clear - worked a charm (Nan is a practical soul and though she is no longer with us I know she approves). "You're learning." said scope, "But this does make me look as ridiculous as you do."

[chiltonstar]

I walked out onto the Downs and admired the conjunction without the village lighting - stunning.

Chris

[Dave In Vermont]

We had clear skies last night - until late/early am. And the Moon and Jupiter put on a stellar show! I was doing a shakedown cruise with my Maksutov. But I pushed it aside. This was most certainly a eye's-only scene going about right over my rooftop. The vision is now firmly etched in my near-photographic memory-circuits. It would be quite difficult to top this! Simply wonderful!

Onwards & upwards -

Dave