Majestic Jupiter in two scopes

[RobertI]

Lovely dark transparent evening, had an hour or two on my hands, so planetary or deep sky? Well the seeing looked good so I thought I’d try Jupiter with the C8 and binoviewers and was not disappointed. The seeing got better and better and at 180x I was viewing some beautiful features, brown belts, grey streamers, white ovals and the beautiful Great Red Spot (now salmon pink!). I spent a good hour sketching and I may share later if I feel brave enough.

I thought I’d switch to the 102ED with BVs just to compare and, oh my, was I surprised. At around 170x the view was so much more pleasing, and the white/light areas and white ovals much easier to see. The disc was sharper, the features richer and more contrasty, the sky was darker and the moons had become tiny little discs. The only real downside was that floaters were getting in the way every now and then which is a pain. I was expecting under these decent conditions that the C8 would pull away from the 102ED but I was surprised.

I finished with a little deep sky - a view of the double double cluster. For fun I thought I would compare the view through the 102ED and  binoviewers at x57 with the C8 and single Hyperion eyepiece at about x60 - again I was expecting the greater light gathering of the C8 to provide much the better views but I actually  preferred the view through the 102ED with BVs - the stereo viewing, dark background, and pinpoint stars made for a really immersive experience. Need to work out how I can get more out of the C8 for lowish power viewing of open clusters and star fields. 
 

Edit: Sketch added, while trying to capture the detail I got the positioning a bit wrong, but hopefully of interest.

Edited September 30, 2022 by RobertI

[MalcolmM]

Very interesting comparison and as a refractor man, I'm cheering

Would love to see your sketches. At risk of offending the imagers, there's something more personal about a sketch, it's a personal record of what you actually observed!

Malcolm 

[PeterW]

Was very steady last night, got my best ever view, made yet better with a blue filter I happened to have with me. 
 

Peter

[RobertI]

9 minutes ago, MalcolmM said:

Very interesting comparison and as a refractor man, I'm cheering

Would love to see your sketches. At risk of offending the imagers, there's something more personal about a sketch, it's a personal record of what you actually observed!

Malcolm 

Thanks Malcolm. Yes at certain moments of clarity the detail became overwhelming - my sketching powers (and speed) were not up to the job!

[RobertI]

6 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Was very steady last night, got my best ever view, made yet better with a blue filter I happened to have with me. 
 

Peter

I also have a blue filter (Wratten 80A). I ALMOST put it in but decided against it in the end - will give it a whirl next time out.

[josefk]

Sounds great Rob and an interesting comparison of the two approaches. 

[josefk]

Really nice sketch too!

[PeterStudz]

Sounds superb. And great sketch! I’ve never had much success with a blue filter on Jupiter. I’ve used it many times and it just makes the planet look, well, a bit blue 😕.

[Alan White]

Interesting comparison on two scope types I know well, I sold on my C8 as it never truly wowed me.

Nice report and sketch Rib, don’t do yourself down on sketching, it’s a good observing record.
Recording what you see helps concentrate your observing, it does for me and my ‘art’ is dire.

[MalcolmM]

9 hours ago, RobertI said:

Lovely dark transparent evening, had an hour or two on my hands, so planetary or deep sky? Well the seeing looked good so I thought I’d try Jupiter with the C8 and binoviewers and was not disappointed. The seeing got better and better and at 180x I was viewing some beautiful features, brown belts, grey streamers, white ovals and the beautiful Great Red Spot (now salmon pink!). I spent a good hour sketching and I may share later if I feel brave enough.

I thought I’d switch to the 102ED with BVs just to compare and, oh my, was I surprised. At around 170x the view was so much more pleasing, and the white/light areas and white ovals much easier to see. The disc was sharper, the features richer and more contrasty, the sky was darker and the moons had become tiny little discs. The only real downside was that floaters were getting in the way every now and then which is a pain. I was expecting under these decent conditions that the C8 would pull away from the 102ED but I was surprised.

I finished with a little deep sky - a view of the double double cluster. For fun I thought I would compare the view through the 102ED and  binoviewers at x57 with the C8 and single Hyperion eyepiece at about x60 - again I was expecting the greater light gathering of the C8 to provide much the better views but I actually  preferred the view through the 102ED with BVs - the stereo viewing, dark background, and pinpoint stars made for a really immersive experience. Need to work out how I can get more out of the C8 for lowish power viewing of open clusters and star fields. 
 

Edit: Sketch added, while trying to capture the detail I got the positioning a bit wrong, but hopefully of interest.

Fabulous sketch @RobertI, much better than mine and very similar to the views I get in my 4"

Malcolm

[Astro_Dad]

Thanks for this report, particularly good to see a sketch rather than an image - well done there, you’ve captured the details well and had given me some inspiration to have a try myself. 
I’ve had some pleasing results with an 80A on Jupiter recently too but actually managed more subtle banding detail with an orange filter (#21). 

[PeterW]

I had a CCD blue filter on me for another reason and OK the views was very blue, by the spot and belt detail just jumped out when we popped it in…. The view was bland when we pulled it off. Not sure how it compares to a written 80a though.

 

peter

[IB20]

11 hours ago, RobertI said:

Lovely dark transparent evening, had an hour or two on my hands, so planetary or deep sky? Well the seeing looked good so I thought I’d try Jupiter with the C8 and binoviewers and was not disappointed. The seeing got better and better and at 180x I was viewing some beautiful features, brown belts, grey streamers, white ovals and the beautiful Great Red Spot (now salmon pink!). I spent a good hour sketching and I may share later if I feel brave enough.

I thought I’d switch to the 102ED with BVs just to compare and, oh my, was I surprised. At around 170x the view was so much more pleasing, and the white/light areas and white ovals much easier to see. The disc was sharper, the features richer and more contrasty, the sky was darker and the moons had become tiny little discs. The only real downside was that floaters were getting in the way every now and then which is a pain. I was expecting under these decent conditions that the C8 would pull away from the 102ED but I was surprised.

I finished with a little deep sky - a view of the double double cluster. For fun I thought I would compare the view through the 102ED and  binoviewers at x57 with the C8 and single Hyperion eyepiece at about x60 - again I was expecting the greater light gathering of the C8 to provide much the better views but I actually  preferred the view through the 102ED with BVs - the stereo viewing, dark background, and pinpoint stars made for a really immersive experience. Need to work out how I can get more out of the C8 for lowish power viewing of open clusters and star fields. 
 

Edit: Sketch added, while trying to capture the detail I got the positioning a bit wrong, but hopefully of interest.

I’m in agreement, I’m finding I prefer contrast over light grasp during this opposition. Maybe I need to try a contrast booster on the 8” light bucket.

The wider field of view seems to help on the refractor too, it’s just framed better.

[RobertI]

4 hours ago, IB20 said:

Maybe I need to try a contrast booster on the 8” light bucket.

Yes I have thought about something to reduce the glare with the 8" - perhaps I'll try a yellow filter or moon filter.....

[Franklin]

4 hours ago, IB20 said:

Maybe I need to try a contrast booster on the 8” light bucket.

Baader CB and Neodymium filters both work very well on Jupiter, though the more traditional Wratten Light Blue #82A and Light Yellow #8 work well too and at a much lower cost.

[Stu]

Excellent report and sketch @RobertI 👍👍.

Interesting to read the comparison. I’ve found my 8” f8 pulls away from the 4” under very good conditions but in average seeing it is much more balanced. The frac is often ‘easier on the eye’ as in more stable and pleasing to view.

Did you find the colour to be stronger in the 8”? I did find that the brighter image from larger aperture tends to show colour better in GRS etc, but then I don’t think my eyes are particularly sensitive to colour at low light levels.

Early morning observing can be the best time. Everything has cooled and settled then so the views a be fab. Normally very peaceful too 👍

[JeremyS]

Thanks for a great report @RobertI.

Reminds me why I like refractors so much 😊

[Froeng]

Great report and excellent sketch! You pulled out a lot of detail there. Well done!

[Westmoorland]

He isn't kidding. I got the best view of Jupiter yet through my c9.25. I now know it takes longer than I thought to cool down but when it did I had moments of a bubbling effect around the red spot and much more variation in colour tones at 168x. I even used the Televue2x Barlow on the 14mm Baader Morpheus  at 336x and I was still able to resolve a good deal with a patient eye. I learned plenty, including that trainers are not adequate footwear for astronomy. I'd also like to learn how people manage to make sketches when even at this time of year I'm shivering with jumper, jacket and wooly hat?