19th December 16:25 hrs: Jupiter & Saturn 1/4 degree apart

[Captain Scarlet]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

I told Lorna to remember her old Dad when she sees the next one in 2080!!

2040 shouldn't be too bad, although it'll be at the wrong end of the day: 6am ish 30-31/10/2040 should be viewable, although only an unimpressive 1.1 degrees minimum separation. But it will have the benefit of a quite close-by Mercury. You'll still be a spring chicken. It's in my diary anyway.

M

[Barry-W-Fenner]

So glad we got to see this last night. Today is completely miserable and looks a total wash out!

[bish]

My 8mm ep is around .32 degree fov. The planets separation was roughly half this (or a little over). I make it about 9 arc min separation last night.

[johnturley]

17 hours ago, badhex said:

Dronnie eh? I'm a Chesterfield (Duckmanton, nr Bolsover) lad originally although in Berlin now! I would much prefer your Bortle 5 skies 😉

I would imagine the sky from Duckmanton would not be too bad, especially as the nearby Coalite plant has now gone, on good nights I usually get a SQM reading of 19.75 mag/arc sec2, which is consistent with Bortle 5

John  

[John]

22 minutes ago, bish said:

My 8mm ep is around .32 degree fov. The planets separation was roughly half this (or a little over). I make it about 9 arc min separation last night.

That is what Cartes du Ciel indicated as well.

My zoom at 7.2mm plus the 2.25x barlow was giving 281x in my Tak 100mm F/9 and I reckon the AfoV of the zoom plus barlow at that focal length is around 55 degrees and the true field of about .20 degree. Result: both planets easily fitted in the field of view 

That sort of power was not doing either planet, and especially Jupiter, any favours though, with them being just on the tree line here so throttling back to 150x -180x gave crisper views and enabled a little Jovian and Saturnian detail to be picked up.

It was seeing both these fabulous worlds and some of their moons in the same high power view that was the fascination though

Looking at the forecasts, the next 3 days look pretty hopeless but Christmas Eve looks hopeful with the planets still just 20 arc minutes apart, If I can get a "pass" from the boss that is !

 

 

[bish]

33 minutes ago, John said:

That is what Cartes du Ciel indicated as well.

My zoom at 7.2mm plus the 2.25x barlow was giving 281x in my Tak 100mm F/9 and I reckon the AfoV of the zoom plus barlow at that focal length is around 55 degrees and the true field of about .20 degree. Result: both planets easily fitted in the field of view 

That sort of power was not doing either planet, and especially Jupiter, any favours though, with them being just on the tree line here so throttling back to 150x -180x gave crisper views and enabled a little Jovian and Saturnian detail to be picked up.

It was seeing both these fabulous worlds and some of their moons in the same high power view that was the fascination though

Looking at the forecasts, the next 3 days look pretty hopeless but Christmas Eve looks hopeful with the planets still just 20 arc minutes apart, If I can get a "pass" from the boss that is !

 

 

Yes it was a sight seeing both together. I was surprised to get such a good view at x187 considering how low they were. The next few nights are a no go for me, regardless of weather. Christmas Eve will be OK if the weather is good, and I get my chores done!

[Stu]

I took quite a few pics using my DSLR last night, and this was probably the best of them. Tricky to catch the moons in the bright sky, but they are there just about, including Io just creeping out from behind the disk.

NB Second image added which has been RGB aligned, seems slightly better.

 

[Mark at Beaufort]

Nice one Stu. It was great to see the event. Pam came out again last night for another look. She was pleased to see Saturn's Rings for the first time.

 

[John]

Today and this evening have been a total washout here as predicted

Very glad that we been able to observe the pair quite a few times as they approached each other.

Just as well that this is an event that unfolds over a period of time - more chances for us astronomers under highly variable winter skies to get some views in

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by John

[Pixies]

Washout here too. However, the skies cleared around 9pm and from 10pm it was beautifully clear. Had the little Mak out for a quick play before bed.

Roll on the 24th...

[Stu]

I’ll post on the heads-up forum, but I’ve just seen it pointed out that Mercury will join the party in January. Lovely grouping on 9th, low down so I suspect naked eye or binos best for this, although they will fit into a widefield scope view quite easily.

[John]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

I’ll post on the heads-up forum, but I’ve just seen it pointed out that Mercury will join the party in January. Lovely grouping on 9th, low down so I suspect naked eye or binos best for this, although they will fit into a widefield scope view quite easily.

Thanks Stu. I don't recall having seen 3 planets in a scope field of view before

 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, John said:

Thanks Stu. I don't recall having seen 3 planets in a scope field of view before

 

Nor do I John so it should be worth a go, though I suspect binos will be the better option. Looks like about a 3.5 or 4 degree field would make for a comfy fit, so your Vixen or my Genesis will be ideal.

[SiriusB]

Enjoyed good views on 19th & 20th through my little 70mm. a gap in the skyline in just the right place from the back garden till about 6pm.

I knew viewing on  the 21st was an outside chance from the weather forcast & sadly it was  all too correct  for my location.

Such is UK astronomy.....a 200mile trip to Cornwall in '99 was similarly disappointing.

Did anyone in UK manage a glimpse on 21st? Please tell if you did.

But still,overall very pleased with the views on 19th & 20th.

& UK weather breeds a certain type of dedication in the nations'  Astronomers??

 

 

[F15Rules]

On 20/12/2020 at 14:24, westmarch said:

I recommend a fast telescope as the only way to see the conjunction properly.  It needs to be up, cool and focussed in less than two minutes between sunset and cloud gaps.

John

Not actually true🙂.

I got great views of the conjunction in the past week with both 8x32 binoculars and a 6Omm F11.8 scope😉.

Dave

[Carbon]

Clear skies, observed for more than an hour between my Pentax spotting scope and the dob from my balcony.

[westmarch]

10 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Not actually true🙂.

I got great views of the conjunction in the past week with both 8x32 binoculars and a 6Omm F11.8 scope😉.

Dave

Sorry if I misled you.  It was a pun on the weather. 😀

John

Edited December 23, 2020 by westmarch

[F15Rules]

Sorry John, I see that now..My bad, I was reading your comments too literally! 

Merry Christmas 👍😊

Dave

[Saganite]

A complete washout for me on the 21st, but I did catch them very nicely the  previous evening.

[badhex]

On 21/12/2020 at 12:04, johnturley said:

I would imagine the sky from Duckmanton would not be too bad, especially as the nearby Coalite plant has now gone, on good nights I usually get a SQM reading of 19.75 mag/arc sec2, which is consistent with Bortle 5

John  

Yes, Ducky is surrounded by quite a lot of farmland still, so the main LP comes from the village itself which is not too bad, and the M1 and commercial park where the pit used to be. My stepdad does have a cheapish frac but not sure how much use he gets out of it.  

I have only had my gear out there once some years ago. We went out to Clumber Park and found a great spot out of of the way and sheilded from local LP, had an excellent night's viewing. Would love to do that again!