Jupiter June 2nd into 3rd.

[ollypenrice]

In the afternoon we had some nice iridescent cloud, so ice particles at altitude. Next came a thunderstorm and violent hail, after which the sky partially cleared leaving thin high haze, enough to cause a soft glow around Jupiter, naked eye, and impose a limit of about mag 4. I wouldn't have bothered but Tom's here helping make a start on his remote setup so he suggested we open up the 14 inch SCT. I'm glad we did!

At 269x in the 13mm Ethos this was the most stable Jupiter I've ever seen. It was so relaxing for the eye not to have to work against the seeing, which was, I would say, perfectly still. The haze maybe took out some contrast but the GRS was central and exquisite. The 'eyebrow' feature around it was easy and a dark line split one side of the South Tropical Zone along its length. There was also, slightly offset from the GRS, a very disticnctive dark knot in the North Equatorial Belt. All quite wonderful.

All this in the late Alan Longstaff's telescope so, once more, thanks Alan.

Olly

 

[Paz]

24 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

 There was also, slightly offset from the GRS, a very disticnctive dark knot in the North Equatorial Belt.

 

I saw this too yesterday evening! The best views of Jupiter I can recall and who would have thought it when it's not very high in the sky.

[Dave1]

Jupiter was very good last night. Seeing was very good, and so was transparency. I was using my 4" F15, the knot opposite GRS in NEB, was quite pronounced at times. 

[ollypenrice]

Does anyone know anything about this knot?

Olly

[John]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

Does anyone know anything about this knot?

Olly

I saw it last night but I could not make my mind up if it was a knot or a barge

A knotty barge perhaps ? 

[GordonD]

Agree - Jupiter was really steady last night. Only out for an hour before midnight but a lovely view through the SW 120ED at various magnifications. I never seen the GRS so clearly, or so strongly coloured.

Just ordered a new eyepiece - Pentax XW 5mm from FLO to use with it. That should ensure the weather gods rule out any further good views for a few weeks. Apologies for that!

Gordon

[ollypenrice]

8 minutes ago, John said:

I saw it last night but I could not make my mind up if it was a knot or a barge

A knotty barge perhaps ? 

? I think of barges as lying clearly within the belt. This, like the GRS, struck me as being larger and reaching just beyond the belt. I'm not a planetary buff so this is all interesting. I've yet to find a picture of it.

Olly

 

[Dave1]

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

? I think of barges as lying clearly within the belt. This, like the GRS, struck me as being larger and reaching just beyond the belt. I'm not a planetary buff so this is all interesting. I've yet to find a picture of it.

Olly

 

The knot/barge did just come out of NED on the northern side of NEB. From what I found out about barges on Jupiter, they tend to sit in NEB but can be slightly out. Barges can be completely in, or slightly out of NEB. http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/jupiter/barge-on-jupiter.html

[geoflewis]

5 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Does anyone know anything about this knot?

Olly

 

3 hours ago, John said:

I saw it last night but I could not make my mind up if it was a knot or a barge

A knotty barge perhaps ? 

 

3 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

? I think of barges as lying clearly within the belt. This, like the GRS, struck me as being larger and reaching just beyond the belt. I'm not a planetary buff so this is all interesting. I've yet to find a picture of it.

Olly

 

 

15 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

The knot/barge did just come out of NED on the northern side of NEB. From what I found out about barges on Jupiter, they tend to sit in NEB but can be slightly out. Barges can be completely in, or slightly out of NEB. http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/jupiter/barge-on-jupiter.html

Hi everyone,

I think that it's probably that dark oval which you can see in my image from 6 May and most other images that also show the GRS.

I asked Dr John Rogers, Director Jupiter Section of the British Astronomical Association and he just replied that It is a large barge that has grown more and more prominent in recent months.

Cheers, Geof

[stuy]

Just received this off fellow astronomer nick busby taken last night in Abergavenny 

i also noticed this barge/knot feature while observing in Brecon but we did not get the good seeing Regards stuart 

[ollypenrice]

Geoff, Stuy, yes, I'm sure that's our man. Thanks,

Olly

[Stu]

14 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

Geoff, Stuy, yes, I'm sure that's our man. Thanks,

Olly

Yep, that’s the one. I was discussing this on another GRS thread and still can’t decide what it is! It looks to have been stable and near GRS for some time, at least a month but perhaps much longer?