What did you see tonight?

[Zermelo]

It was an odd evening, conditions seemed to be in flux all the time. High cloud appeared, then vanished, to be replaced by low cloud from the SW. While doubles were difficult at the start, I finished the session by splitting 52 Ori (just), yet when I turned to Jupiter for a second look, it was horribly mushy. Some of it could have been local. The Svbony 9-27mm and 7-21mm zooms both performed very well again, the former matching my 9mm Morpheus for detail on the moon.

One interesting point: when I looked at Clavius, I saw what looked like two rills on the crater floor, close together and making an angle of about 15 degrees. I've never seen these before - does anyone know what they are?

[John]

Bristol AS meeting tonight for me and by the time I got back, the sky was mostly obscured by clouds so I've not put a scope out. Nice to read the reports on here though - it did look quite nice out there when I set off for the meeting.

Interesting talk about the Beagle 2 mission so that made up for not being at an eyepiece I think 🙂

 

[lunator]

Only popped out briefly tonight as we had guests round. I did offer to take them out but they were concerned about the cold. I had a brief look at the Moon, Jupiter and M42.

I did get out for a session last night which was very good. Plenty of detail on the Moon& Jupiter. I also observed the companion of STF148 a rather tight double. Feeling quite chuffed about that ☺️ 

Cheers

Ian

[Mr Spock]

Thick high cloud here. I can see where the moon is, but not its shape.

[Ags]

Yes Rupes Recta, the Straight Wall, although it really just the Straight Very Gentle Slope. It was very prominent tonight, as was Clavius.

[Epick Crom]

I had an extraordinary observation last night, I watched Europa slowly materialise out of Jupiter's shadow! Wow, that was the first time I've seen one of the Galilean moon emerge from an eclipse.

I tell you, it's an awesome spectacle! Sky Safari told me that Europa would emerge from Jupiter's shadow at 9:39pm local time. At 9:35pm I decided to go inside for a quick drink of water ( its summer on this side of the equator) but when I got back to the eyepiece I saw that Europa was starting to appear, as a very tiny light source. Sky Safari was off by about 3 minutes! But nevermind I watched as Europa slowly started to brighten beside Io. What a fascinating phenomenon and I can wait to see another one again!

 

Clear Skies

Joe

[John]

31 minutes ago, Epick Crom said:

I had an extraordinary observation last night, I watched Europa slowly materialise out of Jupiter's shadow! Wow, that was the first time I've seen one of the Galilean moon emerge from an eclipse.

I tell you, it's an awesome spectacle! Sky Safari told me that Europa would emerge from Jupiter's shadow at 9:39pm local time. At 9:35pm I decided to go inside for a quick drink of water ( its summer on this side of the equator) but when I got back to the eyepiece I saw that Europa was starting to appear, as a very tiny light source. Sky Safari was off by about 3 minutes! But nevermind I watched as Europa slowly started to brighten beside Io. What a fascinating phenomenon and I can wait to see another one again!

 

Clear Skies

Joe

Watching the moons come out of Jupiter's shadow is, perhaps, even more interesting than when they start their trip behind the planet. The start of the journey is a gradual slide ending in a sudden disappearance whereas coming out of the shadow is rather like someone turning on a light using a dimmer switch slowly, and well away from the planets limb 🙂

The solar system mechanics in motion before your eyes - you can't beat it 😁

Edited January 20 by John

[SuburbanMak]

Finally managed to get out twice tonight after many life factors had me missing out on clear skies earlier in the week. 
 
The first a planetary and lunar tour pretty much the minute my last work call finished , some last glimpses of Saturn for the year, fine detail in Jupiter and Staggering crispness on the moon. A washed out but still satisfying look at M42 - ditto Saturn, there is no bad view of the Orion Nebula! 

Then, dinner and two movies later, a second, relaxed garden tour of early spring favourites - mix of obvious doubles, clusters and a couple of LP-washed galaxies.  
Observing report to follow, but great to be out and definitely achieved that mild, de-stressing euphoria that comes from contemplating the cosmic perspective. 

[rojay]

A short session for me last night, just the moon and Jupiter in my newish VX14. Nice details on both, with the Baader 10mm giving the best views of Jupiter's bands. On the Moon I enjoyed using a Svbony zoom, and turning it up to silly magnification. Like others above, I noticed how prominent Rupes Recta was. 

By the time I finished, my gloves were sticking to the ice on the tube!

[Stu]

4 hours ago, SuburbanMak said:

Observing report to follow

Yes please 👍

[Froeng]

7 hours ago, John said:

Watching the moons come out of Jupiter's shadow is, perhaps, even more interesting than when they start their trip behind the planet. The start of the journey is a gradual slide ending in a sudden disappearance whereas coming out of the shadow is rather like someone turning on a light using a dimmer switch slowly, and well away from the planets limb 🙂

The solar system mechanics in motion before your eyes - you can't beat it 😁

Watching the moons go into or come out of Jupiter’s shadow is great. I have seen this a few times, and each time was fascinating. However one thing I have not witnessed is Jupiter’s moons occulting or casting their shadows onto EACHOTHER. This is - obviously- extremely rare, but I would love to see this. I have also not found a source that tells us when these events happen. Does anyone know where to find this info? I would imagine this being visible will depend on your own location on earth as well…

[Whistlin Bob]

After weeks of cloud, life really got in the way of some clear nights this week, but I did get one in on Wednesday with 14" dob. Rushed home to get started and after a first hour on Jupiter and the moon, I had 3 hours of Orion and environs. Just a total joy. After a good while gawking at m42 with every eyepiece and filter combo I possess I tried a couple of challenges:

Pup of Sirius- nope, but I had fun trying. Only ever managed it once, man it must have been still that night.

The Horsehead - success! The winning combo was an old 17mm Synta ep with an Hb filter. I think I've now managed it once a season for the last four years. 

Had to get to bed shortly after, due to a work trip to London with a 5.30 start- but at least I went with a sloppy grin 😀. Avoided SGL because that would have been yet more lost sleep!!!

[Bugdozer]

On 15/01/2024 at 19:19, Mr Spock said:

Interesting. S&T predictor says 19:10 for both. I got 19:08 for Io and 19:15 for Europa.

Some thin high cloud arriving but Jupiter is still putting on a show. I don't normally see colour on Jupiter but in the 12" GRS is a lovely salmon colour.

That Sky and Telescope moon predictor isn't very accurate. I tried timing it myself with my 5" SCT and estimated 19:09 and 19:14 for the times they were occulted. I was shocked when I then consulted the S&T site and saw 19:08 for both. So I checked Stellarium, which gave a much more likely 19:10 and 19:15.

[Epick Crom]

11 hours ago, John said:

Watching the moons come out of Jupiter's shadow is, perhaps, even more interesting than when they start their trip behind the planet. The start of the journey is a gradual slide ending in a sudden disappearance whereas coming out of the shadow is rather like someone turning on a light using a dimmer switch slowly, and well away from the planets limb 🙂

The solar system mechanics in motion before your eyes - you can't beat it 😁

Very well said John 👍

[SuburbanMak]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

Yes please 👍

Full report on last night’s Winchester shenanigans here: 

 

[Epick Crom]

Another night, another big event! Still buzzing from viewing the Europa egress eclipse the night before, last night it was the turn of the moon and M45 to take centre stage.

From my location, the waxing gibbous moon passed right over the Pleiades, resulting in multiple occultations and reappearances. 

Among the highlights were watching Electra reappear on the moon's bright limb close to Mare Crisium and seeing Alcyone and the triangle of stars close to it slowly get blotted out by the moon's dark limb. Sensational! 

[Stu]

8 hours ago, Epick Crom said:

Another night, another big event! Still buzzing from viewing the Europa egress eclipse the night before, last night it was the turn of the moon and M45 to take centre stage.

From my location, the waxing gibbous moon passed right over the Pleiades, resulting in multiple occultations and reappearances. 

Among the highlights were watching Electra reappear on the moon's bright limb close to Mare Crisium and seeing Alcyone and the triangle of stars close to it slowly get blotted out by the moon's dark limb. Sensational! 

Sounds fabulous! I just simulated it on SkySafari, but it was really good to see.

I’m always amazed by the parallax differences between various locations. From here it missed completely, but for you it was a direct pass over.

[Epick Crom]

14 hours ago, Stu said:

Sounds fabulous! I just simulated it on SkySafari, but it was really good to see.

I’m always amazed by the parallax differences between various locations. From here it missed completely, but for you it was a direct pass over.

Nice simulation Stu👍

It was a fantastic sight to behold!

[andrew63]

Two passes of the ISS this evening, both in part obscured by bright cloud. 

 

Edited January 22 by andrew63
photo

[Ags]

I did a bit of moongazing toninght aided by a newly purchased book, Moongazing. Coincidentally, I was looking around the time the Moon drifted in front of a relatively bright star - 136 Tauri (mag. 4.56). Not quite the Pleiades, and my puppy distracted me at the crucial moment but still a nice occultation. 

Using my ZS66 at about 130x magnification, I could make out masses of sharp detail. I could see hints of rilles in Gassendi, and I watched sunrise over Aristarchus - over the course of the session Aristarchus rapidly increased in brightness.

[andrew63]

Clear view of the ISS this evening over the garden. 

 

Edited January 24 by andrew63
photo

[gp102m]

Nice view of the ISS going over. Followed by half an hour watching Ganymede disappear behind the disk of Jupiter.

[Nik271]

Jupiter with only one moon visible right now: Callisto. Pretty rare I think. Europa should come out from in front of the planet any moment now and Io should emerge from the shadow of Jupiter. Cool stuff going on!

[Littleguy80]

Out with the Tak for a short session. Seeing was average so didn’t linger on Jupiter or the Moon. Popped the 30mm APM UFF and the Tak came alive. The Owl Cluster looked so delicate with its pin point stars. I passed by a few more clusters until I arrived at Iota Cas. The Nagler zoom gave a lovely split, the bright white star with a yellow and a blue companion. Back to the 30mm and I traveled along Kemble’s cascade to the cluster NGC 1502. For a final challenge, I went after the planetary nebula NGC 1501. It was really challenging with the bright moon. I eventually cracked it with the Docter, VIP Barlow and TV UHC filter. A normally easy target became a brilliantly fun challenge due to the conditions. Great little session. 

[SwiMatt]

Currently enjoying a bowl of tobacco on the balcony, despite the Moon up on the other side of the house I managed to give a good prolonged look at M29 and M15 in the Mak at 166x. Transparency is good tonight, considered the "Moon-wash"... M29 was showing a lot of the main stars without problems.

Edited January 25 by SwiMatt