OCT 26TH - TONIGHT!! - FABULOUUS JUPITER SATELLITE, SHADOWS AND GRS TRANSITS THIS EVENING.

[paulastro]

A great opportunity this evening, two satellite transits, two shadow transits and a GRS transit. 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/401721-october-26th-to-27th-multiple-satellite-and-grs-phenomena-a-visual-guide/#comment-4305898

 

[Stephenstargazer]

Thanks for reminder, hope the high cloud gives us a chance here 🤞🏾

So rare to get multiple events at a comfortable time, with a planet at such a good altitude. Consulted 3 forecasts and seems possible will have broken cloud, but unstable. I'll give it a try 🤔 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Stephenstargazer
New forecast

[MylesGibson]

Forecasted as fully cloudy here  i've had this date in the calendar for a few weeks now!

[Stu]

I’ll believe this when I see it!!

Fingers crossed, thanks for the heads up @paulastro 👍👍

[paulastro]

That's brilliant Stu, just don't check any other forecasts that might not be as good 😊.

Yesterday it was completely clear here for the solar eclipse.  The new met cloud forecast was spot on, while AccuWeather had it as 94% cloudy for the duration 🤔

Best of luck  for tonight - and to everyone else who is planning to observe.

[Stephenstargazer]

4 hours ago, paulastro said:

just don't check any other forecasts

Especially the Met Office cloud cover map  😵‍

Which has now correctly forecast arrival of the grey plague here 😭. Game over for me, best for others.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Stephenstargazer
CLOUD!

[Pete Presland]

Going to  be tough tonight from my location,  unless things improve dramatically.  Lots of clouds,  very unstable at times as well.  Will be happy with anything resembling a decent image 🙂

[IB20]

Very hazy but have managed to observe Europa ingress, GRS (albeit less vivid through the cloud) and occultation of Io. Will take these conditions if that’s all I get!

[Chaz2b]

Baah! Clouds! Can’t even see them! I’m a member of the CAS too!

chaz

[Pete Presland]

A lot better currently, looking very impressive right now.

[IB20]

Love the dual shadow formation, really nice. The GRS nearly leaving the face. Must say despite the poor looking conditions it hasn’t been too bad!

[cajen2]

A bit of high cloud where I am but enough clear spells to see one transit. My 6.5mm Morpheus is giving me superb views (187x) - the seeing isn't good enough for the Pentax XW 5mil.

[andrew63]

I just getting the best view of Jupiter I've had in a 4" f5 refractor x90 - aided by the thin veil of cloud which has cut down the colour. Two black shadows of Ganymede and Europa almost like 3D hovering over the globe. Thrilling!

[paulastro]

The Met cloud cover forecast was accurate up here, so mostly  clear throughout, though a lot of haze and poor seeing, particularly early on. Still very pleased.  Always great to see two shadows, particularly when one of them is Ganymede's, a bonus to have the GRS transit as well.  A nice double with it being clear throughout the partial eclipse yesterday 😊.

[MylesGibson]

Fought through a lot of high haze, cloud cover and dew but in small pockets of clearish patches I managed to get this! Before attaching the camera I was able to get a visual look too which was really, really nice to see with my own eyes

Edited October 26, 2022 by MylesGibson

[Stu]

Fantastic shot @MylesGibson, perfect timing to capture both shadows and GRS 👍

[Stu]

Murphy’s Law being what it is, of course last night my daughter was staying away with friends so Mrs Stu and I headed out for dinner and a film 😬🤪🤣. Skies were clear of course!

Anyway, when we got back, Jupiter was still showing well (11pm) and I knew the shadows would still be on the disk, so I swiftly converted the FC76DCU into Q mode, swapped the Herschel wedge for a diagonal and popped it out to have a quick look. GRS had gone, but Ganymede’s shadow was very obvious, and Europa’s was there but a little harder to see. Plenty of detail on the disk too, two belts and two zones below the SEB plus some texture in the main belts. This was at x108 with Leica Zoom at max power.

I took quite a few handheld smartphone shots, these were probably the best. Pleased to catch some surface detail and the shadow with a single shot 👍

It just shows the benefit of having a small but capable scope on standby, ready to setup in 30 seconds, otherwise I would have missed this entirely.

[paulastro]

14 minutes ago, Stu said:

Murphy’s Law being what it is, of course last night my daughter was staying away with friends so Mrs Stu and I headed out for dinner and a film 😬🤪🤣. Skies were clear of course!

Anyway, when we got back, Jupiter was still showing well (11pm) and I knew the shadows would still be on the disk, so I swiftly converted the FC76DCU into Q mode, swapped the Herschel wedge for a diagonal and popped it out to have a quick look. GRS had gone, but Ganymede’s shadow was very obvious, and Europa’s was there but a little harder to see. Plenty of detail on the disk too, two belts and two zones below the SEB plus some texture in the main belts. This was at x108 with Leica Zoom at max power.

I took quite a few handheld smartphone shots, these were probably the best. Pleased to catch some surface detail and the shadow with a single shot 👍

It just shows the benefit of having a small but capable scope on standby, ready to setup in 30 seconds, otherwise I would have missed this entirely.

I'm glad you managed to get back in time to see the two shadows Stu.  Though really, you must get your priorities sorted out 😂.

[MylesGibson]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Anyway, when we got back, Jupiter was still showing well (11pm) and I knew the shadows would still be on the disk, so I swiftly converted the FC76DCU into Q mode, swapped the Herschel wedge for a diagonal and popped it out to have a quick look. GRS had gone, but Ganymede’s shadow was very obvious, and Europa’s was there but a little harder to see. Plenty of detail on the disk too, two belts and two zones below the SEB plus some texture in the main belts. This was at x108 with Leica Zoom at max power.

 

Glad you were able to get back and see it! It was really very nice visually. Glad I took the time to view it before getting the picture. Ganymede's shadow was easy to spot, but it took me a while to get the Europa shadow! I couldn't pick the moon out among the face of the planet though. I could have kept at it, but wanted to get a picture while there were still patches so didn't spend long enough looking

[Stu]

Thanks both.

Here’s an attempt at a composite using Snapseed on my phone. Not too bad considering.

[IB20]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Murphy’s Law being what it is, of course last night my daughter was staying away with friends so Mrs Stu and I headed out for dinner and a film 😬🤪🤣. Skies were clear of course!

Anyway, when we got back, Jupiter was still showing well (11pm) and I knew the shadows would still be on the disk, so I swiftly converted the FC76DCU into Q mode, swapped the Herschel wedge for a diagonal and popped it out to have a quick look. GRS had gone, but Ganymede’s shadow was very obvious, and Europa’s was there but a little harder to see. Plenty of detail on the disk too, two belts and two zones below the SEB plus some texture in the main belts. This was at x108 with Leica Zoom at max power.

I took quite a few handheld smartphone shots, these were probably the best. Pleased to catch some surface detail and the shadow with a single shot 👍

It just shows the benefit of having a small but capable scope on standby, ready to setup in 30 seconds, otherwise I would have missed this entirely.

No idea how you get afocal planetary shots like that, mine are always dogs dinners!

[Stu]

39 minutes ago, IB20 said:

No idea how you get afocal planetary shots like that, mine are always dogs dinners!

Like this you mean? 🤣🤣. I take plenty and choose the best. Even when you get it right the seeing can be off, so it’s worth choosing the best one. I also edit the raw files using PS Express which makes a big difference.

[Stu]

I think this one shows the two additional belts and zones I could see last night. Much clearer in the scope obviously.

 

[Stu]

Just for reference, this was the original image before cropping and processing.

[Mart29]

It was a great view last night! Got a few shots on the phone but looked amazing in the eyepiece