Jupiter smiles on me

[Scott Brown]

3 minutes ago, JOC said:

I'm envious, but vastly encouraged by your posting.  I haven't done the wake up in the middle of the night routine yet - it would make the dogs bark and I'd be vastly unpopular in our 7 person house.  I'm hoping to catch it the right side of midnight at some point soon, and hope my seeing, when it happens, fills me with the same wonder as yours has.

Well I have the same scope and stock Eyepieces as you have and went straight to the 10mm as I thought the 25mm wouldn't pick him up but both amazed me, the 25mm viewing was quite small but great with the brown bands and moons showing, I just popped that one on to see if Jupiter was more than a bright speck and couldn't believe what I saw, in fact what I got with the 25mm was what I was expecting with the strongest possible magnification so I'm more than happy. Jupiter moved quite fast across my view when I had the 10mm attached  so I had to track him but I enjoyed that as it gave me good practise for the future and it was easier than I though TBH although with your scope tracking will be done for you so that's a plus. As many have said in the replies it's also down to a night with good viewing which luckily enough I got....... Good Luck...... Scott

[Scott Brown]

5 minutes ago, Tangoringo said:

And a very bemused looking bank manager ?

And also a bemused looking missus when she can't understand what all the fuss is about....... It's stealth mode spending for me so lets just see how long I get away with it before she puts the foot on the breaks haha.

[Tangoringo]

24 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

And also a bemused looking missus when she can't understand what all the fuss is about....... It's stealth mode spending for me so lets just see how long I get away with it before she puts the foot on the breaks haha.

Sounds like our households are very similar!! ?

[laudropb]

You will never get tired of viewing Jupiter. There is always something different to see. I particularly enjoy shadow and moon transits. New features in the clouds such as storms occur quite frequently.

[Swoop1]

Nie report Scott. I am envious that you have bagged Jupiter. 

I suppose I had better sort out my sleeping patterns to give me a chance of getting a view myself.

[Astro Imp]

That's a great report Scott, Jupiter was one of the first targets for me when I started and like you couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A great piece of software for knowing what's going on with the giant is Jupiter2:- http://www.astrosurf.com/rondi/jupiter/ thanks to @Dave In Vermont for flagging this up some time ago.

Good luck and enjoy.

[JOC]

Well, I'm set-up and waiting, but the clouds are rolling over - gutted!  Inside and waiting and have just found this.  It's rather clever you click on the planet you want and then you can drag the planet along its timeline and it shows where its going to be and at what time of night.

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/uk/london

[Scott Brown]

18 hours ago, Swoop1 said:

Nie report Scott. I am envious that you have bagged Jupiter. 

I suppose I had better sort out my sleeping patterns to give me a chance of getting a view myself.

I seen him the week before rising up high enough around 2:30am and having been outside since 10 I was getting excited as the mist came down just as he came into my view.... I was gutted then.

[Scott Brown]

15 hours ago, Astro Imp said:

That's a great report Scott, Jupiter was one of the first targets for me when I started and like you couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A great piece of software for knowing what's going on with the giant is Jupiter2:- http://www.astrosurf.com/rondi/jupiter/ thanks to @Dave In Vermont for flagging this up some time ago.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks for that astro.... I will d/l and use this I think

[Scott Brown]

10 hours ago, JOC said:

Well, I'm set-up and waiting, but the clouds are rolling over - gutted!  Inside and waiting and have just found this.  It's rather clever you click on the planet you want and then you can drag the planet along its timeline and it shows where its going to be and at what time of night.

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night/uk/london

Yeh it was rotten up here as well. That's a great wee page thanks..... Scott

[Macrob1]

Thanks for the post Scott. I'm a Melbourne Australia newbie. I too am amazed at my first views of Jupiter despite light pollution and it sometimes hiding among the trees in my backyard. The weather has been fantastic - last night temp was about 19 deg C and I was out in my boxers and tee shirt around 3am. I have a SW Mak 127 and I must say I enjoy the wider field view through the stock 25mm eyepiece. I can still see the bands and of course the moons. The 9mm stock EP is not good so I use the 2x Barlow with the 25mm and it's still OK. I guess I need some upgrades but that can wait. Hoping for a few more nights of excellent viewing.

[JOC]

7 hours ago, Macrob1 said:

The weather has been fantastic - last night temp was about 19 deg C and I was out in my boxers and tee shirt around 3am.

"La, La, La".......fingers in ears......."La, La, La".........not listening!!  LOL

Seriously, glad you been getting great views, but we don't know what sun is in the UK at the moment!

[John]

2 hours ago, JOC said:

"La, La, La".......fingers in ears......."La, La, La".........not listening!!  LOL

Seriously, glad you been getting great views, but we don't know what sun is in the UK at the moment!

Jupiter was looking very fine at around 1:40 am this morning

Cloudy again now though

[barkis]

Glad you jumped out of bed Scott, that shows dedication, and the sacrifice paid off, for both you and us, thanks to your great report
of what you witnessed. Thank you very much. Just shows how Important, and necessary Observing is, especially when personal accounts are
published for all to see, and they are very welcome indeed.

 Might be a ball of Gas, but big Jove is the most colourful telescopic object in earth's night sky. Apart from processed Deep Sky stuff.
That tremendous atmosphere twists and swirls constantly, and the gigantic GRS just adds to magnificent view of 
the Solar Systems largest planet. Saturn too is a sight to behold, but Jupiter can hold it's own, and it doesn't need visible rings to astonish us.

[Scott Brown]

13 hours ago, Macrob1 said:

- last night temp was about 19 deg C and I was out in my boxers and tee shirt around 3am. 

I'm off tonight so I will be doing the same if it's cloudy but for me it will be thermals, 2 layers of cloths a thick jacket and a hat haha. Jupiter was the reason why I splashed out on 3 new eyepieces this week so hopefully I will get the chance to use them soon. Take Care...... Scott

[Scott Brown]

5 hours ago, JOC said:

"La, La, La".......fingers in ears......."La, La, La".........not listening!!  LOL

Seriously, glad you been getting great views, but we don't know what sun is in the UK at the moment!

We have a sun??????

[Scott Brown]

2 hours ago, John said:

Jupiter was looking very fine at around 1:40 am this morning

Cloudy again now though

Jupiter looks nice in the sky at 06:00 am when I leave work John but unfortunately I get home after 07:00 and it's light by then..... Now that annoyed me every morning

[Scott Brown]

2 hours ago, barkis said:

Glad you jumped out of bed Scott, that shows dedication, and the sacrifice paid off, for both you and us, thanks to your great report
of what you witnessed. Thank you very much. Just shows how Important, and necessary Observing is, especially when personal accounts are
published for all to see, and they are very welcome indeed.

 Might be a ball of Gas, but big Jove is the most colourful telescopic object in earth's night sky. Apart from processed Deep Sky stuff.
That tremendous atmosphere twists and swirls constantly, and the gigantic GRS just adds to magnificent view of 
the Solar Systems largest planet. Saturn too is a sight to behold, but Jupiter can hold it's own, and it doesn't need visible rings to astonish us.

Thanks Doug..... Saturn has still to come for me and I can't wait. As for Jupiter..... You know the feeling you get every now and then when you see something wonderful and you just wish the whole world was there to see the same... Well it was one of those moments. Thanks for your kind words..... Scott 

[JOC]

38 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

Jupiter looks nice in the sky at 06:00 am when I leave work John but unfortunately I get home after 07:00 and it's light by then..... Now that annoyed me every morning

Sounds like putting a set ofbird watching binoculars in your bag might be a worthwhile exercise.  A quick peak before driving home might set you up for the journey!

[barkis]

1 hour ago, Scott Brown said:

Thanks Doug..... Saturn has still to come for me and I can't wait. As for Jupiter..... You know the feeling you get every now and then when you see something wonderful and you just wish the whole world was there to see the same... Well it was one of those moments. Thanks for your kind words..... Scott 

My name is Ron. Why are some members calling me Doug.? 

Maybe I've got my name wrong . 

 

 

[Scott Brown]

7 minutes ago, barkis said:

My name is Ron. Why are some members calling me Doug.? 

Maybe I've got my name wrong . 

 

 

Haha Sorry Ron, I see it now, that's what I get for having a quick look at our signature.....

[barkis]

9 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

Haha Sorry Ron, I see it now, that's what I get for having a quick look at our signature.....

Nae   bother lad . 

[Charic]

On 2/24/2017 at 05:44, Scott Brown said:

I used my 10mm stock EP and found him. WOW..... I was so impressed, 3 Brown bands and 3 of his moons jumping out at me, I watched him for an hour totally amazed. For the last 10 minutes I switched to the stock 25 mm EP and was amazed that you could still see the bands and moons although it was obviously smaller.

Jupiter is truly stunning when the conditions allow, wait till you see a Moon transit across its face!

You have quickly noted some issues with  your eyepieces, your not alone. using too much power, the image races across your field of view,  the field is narrower, the image  is darker, often not  as sharp, yet at the other end the image appears brighter sharper, just too small. It's my only issue with the 200P. I just wish the image was bigger.

Its often referred that the  sweet spot for the 200P is around 100x power mark, that's a 12mm eyepiece, double the focal ratio  if you like! ( you could 2x Barlow your 25mm which would be close enough) This will give a reasonable sharp image of a size between the two already observed. Its still small, but with good conditions and your scope working at or near a suggested optimum, just  keep looking at the mighty planet, and no doubt if/when conditions allow, you will see more, the longer you look the more you will see and discover. More often than not though,  its the atmospheric conditions will dictate just how well  your image is presented to you. I'm fortunate enough to have several eyepieces, and to be honest, the one that works best on the night, may be pants the next night, due to the conditions. 

[Scott Brown]

12 hours ago, Charic said:

Jupiter is truly stunning when the conditions allow, wait till you see a Moon transit across its face!

 

Well I hit it lucky again last night as it was a night off with clear skies after midnight. Went outside around 2ish as Jupiter was perfectly placed in the sky for me. Great views once again with my 25mm and 10mm stock EPs' not quite as clear as last week but very close and with an additional moon chucked in for good measure. 3 moons diagonally place just to the top right and one moon just a tiny bit away from the bottom left of Jupiter and I couldn't help but thinking that I just missed a transit unless of course it came from behind the planet. Watched him for approx 2hrs wrapped up warm in the freezing cold. I also used my 3 new eye pieces bought this week..... 5 mm and 13 mm baader Hyperion and an x-cel lx 7 mm. To be honest I liked them all, the 13mm baader gave me a lovely view and was wider than my stock 10 by a good bit, also my 7mm x-cel lx gave me a great view at x170 but the one that surprised me a bit was the 5mm baader at x240..... after reading a lot on here and researching elsewhere I didn't expect for one moment that the 5mm would be any good for Jupiter, I thought it would be too power full or to dark to be of use but it was great, Jupiter was obviously larger and very light and clear and although I switched from my 5mm to 10mm to see if there was any difference in the detail I couldn't really say for sure, I think the 5mm lost a little but not much at all, well not enough to put me off anyway and i was also surprised at how much of a wide view i got with the 5mm although i found myself nudging the scope a lot with my nose as I tracked him. Again all in all a great night and here's to many more to come...... cheers Scott

[Charic]

On 02/03/2017 at 13:42, Scott Brown said:

nudging the scope a lot with my nose

......different, but why not! 

The more eyepieces you have the more choices you have available, but sure as hell, one of them will work better on the night compared to the rest, then maybe redundant the next night in favour of another. May seem like overkill, but I'll use all my eyepieces on one target, just  to find the one that looks the best, without pr-empting what I should see.

One bag/case contains the BST's, the Panaview and the SPL's, another  contains the revelations and the Delos are still boxed! quite a mess the following morning when Mrs Charic enters the kitchen, with all my EP's spread around the kitchen?

I'm hoping to get out tonight, despite the chill, having  noticed the back street light is intermittent at present, providing a darker site, and no work in the morning