Excellent Jupiter tonight at short notice

[John]

I've just put my Tak 100mm out for an impromptu look at Jupiter. No cool down time at all and yet the giant planet is showing excellent detail in it's belts just now. GRS crossing the disk as well.

The S side of the NEB is really complex and very uneven. 2, maybe 3 festoons showing well and much structure with in the main equatorial belts and the lesser ones to the N and S of those as well.

High powers not really needed either - Jupiter is crisp and contrasty at 120x tonight. I will apply more when Saturn shows.

I was not intending to observe this evening after a tiring day helping my son and his wife move house but I'm so glad that I popped the scope out

 

 

 

 

[Captain Scarlet]

Cloudy for me here tonight but if you could put an indemnity in the post guaranteeing similar conditions for me tomorrow here in Ireland I'd be grateful please

M

[steveex2003]

Went and had a look on the back of this. Very stable down here in Exeter. Great detail observed on Jupiter!

[John]

Additional: There is a feature in the S side of the NEB which is currently right in the centre of the disk. It is dark and elongated, a major barge I think. Nice to see, I've not seen many barges lately

Looks a bit like the one in this image (not mine):

 

 

[John]

Additional, additional: The GRS seems smaller than in previous years. I have seen this mentioned by other observers but it is noticeable to me tonight. It does have a brick red tint though.

Also, the SEB is quite thin and the South Temperate Belt seems wider and darker, extending N to almost brush the S side of the GRS.

Fascinating how the Jovian features change, night to night, week to week and year to year

[johninderby]

Very unsteady seeing tonight as far as Jupiter was concerned. Occasionally seeing would improve for a minute and you could see good detail on then the detail would vanish for a few minutes then would improve for another minute and so on.

Saturn was much better for some reason and showed good detail. 👍🏻

Still at least got to try out the little Bresser 100 mak. 

Edited August 6, 2020 by johninderby

[John]

Saturn is excellent here as well

 

[Pain in the Neck]

I was just telling all the experts on ‘the Anybody Playing Tonight’ thread about first light with my brand new toy. For the first time in my life I have seen Jupiter (with moons if I’m not mistaken) and Saturn with its rings with my own eyes. I am well pleased with my new hobby already. Looking forward to many happy hours.

[John]

4 minutes ago, Pain in the Neck said:

I was just telling all the experts on ‘the Anybody Playing Tonight’ thread about first light with my brand new toy. For the first time in my life I have seen Jupiter (with moons if I’m not mistaken) and Saturn with its rings with my own eyes. I am well pleased with my new hobby already. Looking forward to many happy hours.

Yes, the 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter are showing nicely tonight and I've spotted 5 of Saturn's moons as well.

Congratulations on your first views of Jupiter and Saturn. You will remember them for a long, long time

 

[Pain in the Neck]

Thanks John. It is still my intention to look at joining Bristol Astro when everything returns to (something like) normal, so hope to meet you in person one day.

Charles.

[johninderby]

29 minutes ago, John said:

Saturn is excellent here as well

 

Made up for Jupiter. 🙂 Will try again later to see if things have improved.

The little mak is showing great detail on the moon at the moment 👍🏻

[Highburymark]

Good to hear others have had some success tonight - and welcome to SGL Charles. 
I’ve had an interesting evening too. First night out with new Baader Amici prism diagonal (bought from Mike/IPeace on this forum), used with Tak FC-100 on Jupiter, Saturn, various Summer Triangle targets and the Moon. Absolutely textbook images without a hint of the dreaded spike, even on brightest stars. Views indistinguishable from other BBHS and Zeiss prism diagonals, Up to 185x on planets and 200x on Moon with both single eps and binoviewer. 

[iPeace]

Had a really nice look at Jupiter and Saturn between the roofs opposite, a few nights in short order now. Almost like old times.

The Moon is up as well, great details to be had.

[Stu]

Wonderful views here too John, best I’ve had in a long time. Was using the 8” f8 again, on the EQ platform it is tracking really well which makes for relaxed observing.

Both planets showing plenty of detail. I could see the separation between GRS and the SEB tonight, as well as the festoons and barge you referred to. The turbulent area following GRS was clear tonight too.

The Cassini Division was razor sharp which is a first for me this apparition. 5 moons here too, skies not dark enough for any more.

Alarm set for a quick look at Mars at about 4am! 👍👍

[iPeace]

3 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Absolutely textbook images

That's great to read. One always hopes that the excellence will travel smoothly to a new home.

[steveex2003]

6 minutes ago, Highburymark said:

Good to hear others have had some success tonight - and welcome to SGL Charles. 
I’ve had an interesting evening too. First night out with new Baader Amici prism diagonal (bought from Mike/IPeace on this forum), used with Tak FC-100 on Jupiter, Saturn, various Summer Triangle targets and the Moon. Absolutely textbook images without a hint of the dreaded spike, even on brightest stars. Views indistinguishable from other BBHS and Zeiss prism diagonals, Up to 185x on planets and 200x on Moon with both single eps and binoviewer. 

 

I was very tempted to give that Prism a shot. Glad it performs so well.

[Highburymark]

31 minutes ago, iPeace said:

That's great to read. One always hopes that the excellence will travel smoothly to a new home.

It was marvellous Mike! Thanks so much for an excellent piece of kit.

[John]

Great that others are getting these lovely views as well

I'm too shattered to wait up for Mars though. I'd forgotten how much effort is involved in moving house, or even helping someone else move house

[Stu]

Mars looking great tonight too. Seeing variable as always, but good detail in the steadier moments. Southern polar cap very bright and clear, dark markings in the Southern Hemisphere and what looked like a gentle brightening in the North, possibly frosting?? The Neodymium filter works well on Mars, to my eye reducing glare and increasing contrast. I used 6mm setting on the Nag zoom giving x267, really nice. The Moon was also cracking tonight.

[GordonD]

Yes me too - great view of Jupiter with more detail than I can ever recall seeing before. Wasn't expecting such good views with my new 300p dob, but I must have got very lucky with the seeing. This is the tracking version, which makes it much more relaxing. Best views at around 160x very sharp in the steady moments. I am finding the large exit pupil this scope provides easier to use than my 120mm refractor with higher powers.

[markse68]

Perfect evening had here too- warm still air (so important with my dob) and incredible clarity on the gas giants. So clear in fact i was still getting a very detailed and pleasing sharp image at 400x at times! One of those balmy summers evenings where you could just relax into hopping from random target to random target. Could have stayed at it for hours. Alas cut short by a need to be up now- much too early 🤦‍♂️

[Stu]

Looks like we all lucked into the same good seeing! I had my scope up to x534 on Mars at one point! It didn’t show any more detail of course, the view held up amazingly well. Best was x267 though, v nice.

Glad a few of us caught the same views 👍👍

33 minutes ago, GordonD said:

I am finding the large exit pupil this scope provides easier to use

I am increasing finding my eyes struggle with floaters when using high powers on my 4” scopes, particularly on planets. Using the 8” last night was much better even though it is more affected by variable seeing.

[Rob]

Glad you all enjoyed one of those rare perfect seeing evenings!.. I wanted to get out, but couldn't for family reasons. @Stu over x500 on Mars!.. wow fantastic that image scale must have been awsome

Rob

[Marvin Jenkins]

10 hours ago, John said:

Additional: There is a feature in the S side of the NEB which is currently right in the centre of the disk. It is dark and elongated, a major barge I think. Nice to see, I've not seen many barges lately

Looks a bit like the one in this image (not mine):

 

 

Thank you for the picture John. I was out last night with the 150 newt and despite the heat and thermal shimmer there were many excellent moments of clarity.

During one of these I could clearly see the GRS and made a note that the other belt seemed darker with a complex area that I could not quite resolve at my aperture maxed out with a 10mm Plossl.

Looks like I was seeing the barge in the North Equatorial Belt. Without the picture I would probably not have known that this was a first for me 👍

Marvin

[Stu]

13 hours ago, John said:

Additional: There is a feature in the S side of the NEB which is currently right in the centre of the disk. It is dark and elongated, a major barge I think. Nice to see, I've not seen many barges lately

Looks a bit like the one in this image (not mine):

 

 

Interesting stuff John. Looking at Craig’s image taken last night, it almost seems that the festoons and barges are linking up together rather than being discrete features? Not sure if this is normal or not, but I’m sure I remember seeing quite distinct barges more often in the past, would you agree?