Transit of Europa

[Bugdozer]

Thanks to a local astronomy Facebook group, I was alerted to Europa's transit across Jupiter last night. I have only observed one shadow transit before, which was by accident as I didn't know it was happening until I saw it. So I was keen to see this one, and set up the scope in plenty of time and watched an episode of classic Dr Who while waiting for it to cool. 

It had been windy earlier in the evening so I was concerned about seeing, but by the time the shadow began creeping across Jupiter, the air was really still and clear, and seeing was excellent. A good opportunity to use my Barlow with my 9.7mm eyepiece to get a clear view at around 255x magnification. I was pleasantly surprised at how sharp the shadow looked, like someone had made a pinhole in the planet. I couldn't see Europa itself in front of Jupiter though. 

After daughter and I had spent some time watching it, we had a look at the waning moon, with the area around Mare Crisium looking absolutely spectacular and pin sharp with the moon's high altitude. Daughter photographed some good views of lunar mountains with her phone at the eyepiece (or as she called them, "some bumps"!) 

Then we switched back to Jupiter again, just in time to watch Europa emerging off the front of the disc. I tried to estimate the exact time I could see Europa separated completely from Jupiter, and recorded it as 23:23, which was only about 30 seconds out when I checked the exact time in Stellarium afterwards. I was pretty pleased to have estimated it so close in a 5" scope. 

It was a really lucky night with the air conditions, which undoubtedly made a difference to how sharply things could be seen. I was a block of ice by the time I came in though. 

[Alan White]

Thanks for sharing your report,
wonderful that you shared it with your daughter, always nice to share an observation.

I watched the same withouth knowing it was due last night, my seeing was off but all the same enjoyed it.
 

[John]

Nice report !

It was a very watchable event. I used my 100mm refractor to observe it last night:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/385898-what-did-you-see-tonight/?do=findComment&comment=4436418

 

[Bugdozer]

1 hour ago, John said:

Nice report !

It was a very watchable event. I used my 100mm refractor to observe it last night:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/385898-what-did-you-see-tonight/?do=findComment&comment=4436418

 

Great picture, that's very impressive! 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Bugdozer

[John]

17 minutes ago, Bugdozer said:

Great picture, that's very impressive! 

Not mine (I don't image) but a simulation generated by Stellarium. I could only see Europa itself against Jupiters disk as it neared the limb of the planet and then, obviously, as it left the planetary disk.

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by John