Lunar challenge with a twist

[spaceboy]

Who fancies a little challenge then ?

Best snaps you can get of Earths "second moon" Cruithne

Best snaps you can get of Mars moons Phobos and Deimos

Best snaps of Neptune's moon Triton

 

You will be competing against other determined imagers on SGL so good luck and I look forward to seeing the results.

[lukebl]

Cruithne's strange orbit has a very peculiar effect on its visibility from earth. Very peculiar indeed!

I've just been looking at a timelapse of its motion using Skymap. Basically, it is always to the West of the sun, never has superior or inferior conjunctions, and can only ever be seen after about 3:30, low in the east. It's never north of the celestial equator, or visible in evening, and never transits the meridian during darkness. The location of my obs and various obstructions means that it will never be visible at all!

Looks like we've lost Mars and its moons till next season!

Triton's the easy one! Here it is very close to Neptune, captured with a Canon 450 and 250mm f/4.8 Newt.

[Astro Imp]

Well done Luke, an excellent capture.

[spaceboy]

I think I have only observed Neptune once or twice. I'm guessing by the above image it is also possible to see Triton visually with a decent enough scope ?? I often dismiss anything nearby the outer most planets as background stars thinking its not possible to see moons that far out even those as big as Triton.

 

Update: Gave it a go Saturday and there's NO!!!!! chance of seeing Triton under LP even in my 10"  At magnitude 13.5 it should be with in the grasp of the 10" (ideal conditions magnitude 15.1) so need to get out under dark skies and give it another go.