Jupiter from a couple of days ago

[Buqibu]

Brought out my 4 inch achro, using the Celestron Zoom eyepiece, coupled with a barlow 2x. Seeing started out as ok but it kept getting better. For some reason Jupiter looked clearer to me than Saturn, even though it was lower in the sky. I was able to see all 4 galillean moons, Io and Europa were very close together, almost as if they were a double star. Callisto was standing at the far left of the fov, Ganymede to the far right. I was able to see 3 bands, the 2 main belts and the little thin one above the north belt. I also saw variation in colour, from the dark brown of the belts, to the white in between, to the cream colour of the overall sphere. One of the best views I've gotten in a long time. Most of the time i stuck to 6mm (110×), but I could push it to 4mm (165x), it was a bit dim though. Then The Moon came out and I also enjoyed looking at that. Very nice session overall. One of these days I hope to catch a glimpse of the Great Red Spot. Is it visible in a 4 inch?

[F15Rules]

Nice report 😊.

Yes, the GRS is easily visible in a decent 4" refractor under good conditions👍.

Don't be tempted to go to really high magnification on Jupiter..I find that 120-140x is often enough, and any extra can make the view more "mushy"..

Conversely, Saturn will often take more power..

Dave

Edited July 28, 2021 by F15Rules

[Buqibu]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Nice report 😊.

Yes, the GRS is easily visible in a decent 4" refractor under good conditions👍.

Don't be tempted to go to really high magnification on Jupiter..I find that 120-140x is often enough, and any extra can make the view more "mushy"..

Conversely, Saturn will often take more power..

Dave

Thank you! Cant wait to check it out😁