Heads up - Jupiter 14th Sep - 19:52

[dweller25]

The GRS will be central in twilight this evening.....

[Knighty2112]

Yep, 2 minutes after sunset it will be smack in the middle of Jupiter. Got my scope out last night for a peek, but no sign of of the GRS. Looking more promising for tonight with nice clear weather forcast too for the evening, at least where I live anyhoo, so be dragging the scope out for another looksee. 😀

[Alkaid]

Great, I'll be out to have a go!  Thanks.

[alex_stars]

Nice, I will be out too! First light for my new eyepieces: Hyperflex Zoom, and Baader Orthos 10 and 18 mm.

[Alkaid]

Well, I didn't manage to get out, was rather tired after work and nodded off.  Really poor effort..

Did you guys get a look in??

[Franklin]

Using an Omni120 f8.3 refractor and a BST 5mm for x200 I could clearly see the GRS just past the central meridian on Jupiter last night. The time would have been around 8.15pm as I could hear the theme tune of Coronation Street coming from a neighbours house. An #80A blue filter enhanced the view slightly. North and south equatorial belts where visible along with a third more northerly belt. All four moons where visible. Turning to Saturn a little later Titan was visible and the Cassini Division was seen quite well. Using a #15 yellow filter definitely increased the definition of the view, making the Cassini Division and the planets shadow on the rings stand out quite vividly. In times of steady seeing I also glanced an equatorial belt around the globe of Saturn. By midnight the gas giants had sunk into the south-west and I turned the scope to Mars which had risen quite high in the south-east. I'd found Mars a bit of a disappointment earlier in the month due to bad seeing but last night was much improved. The first thing noticed was the gibbous phase and the increase in size of the disc. Mars is very bright as it approaches opposition and the orange glare was getting in the way of seeing much detail. The #58 green filter worked an absolute treat. Being quite dark the filter acted like an ND filter and turned the fiery disc into a light salmon colour with several dusky marking apparent and a very tiny white blob at the bottom, the South polar cap has shrunk. There was no way I could identify what markings I was seeing, the view was just too small really. I think Mars requires greater magnification than the gas giants but at the moment x200 is my max. Barlow in the post!!!!!!

The last couple of nights in Sheffield I have been treated to not only clear skies but the best seeing of the season. Long may it continue. 

[Alkaid]

Great report, thanks!

[alex_stars]

At my place, clouds moved in rather early, I did see the GRS though nicely (for the bad seeing conditions, high jet-stream speed) with my 18 mm BCO (150x mag, 21 ppi). More was not possible given the conditions.