Jupiter Transit

[Rob]

Managed to get out tonight in semi daylight skies to observe Jupiter & a Transit of Calisto. The skies were very good for seeing. My estimate would have been 8 to 9 out of 10.

The 18mm & 12mm Paradigm Dual ED Eyepieces along with my 2x Orion ShortyPlus & 3 x Antares barlow provided a fantastic view. The inky dot of the moon passing over the face of the planet was great, its been a while since Jupiter has provided such a sharp image, its way past its best, so this was a real treat.

Bands & fastoon details were out of this world.. very clear crisp air.

Suddenly received a phone call from another member (Russ) who was claiming he was also out viewing the transit.. funny that, so was I. Anyhow, after chatting for 20mins and sharing obs, we both came to the conclusion this was one of the best nights jupiter since the summer.

What an evening!.. moon was great also, super earthshine.

[russ]

Considering how low Jupiter is, that was amazingly steady at times. And that inky dot was soooo sharp.

Been a great for astro so far - deepsky and Mars/Saturn this morning, sun spots in the afternoon and Jupiter in the twilight. Plus i've done a short dso session this evening and the scopes are ready for more.

[Phil Fargaze]

I was out using Jupiter to find Neptune at the time but found the seeing quite bad because I had to view it over the roof tops. I should have gone over the park to clear land. I didn`t realise there was a transit in progress but noticed a tiny dot on Jupiters image, so I checked it out on the computer and sure enough the transit was in progress.

[Talitha]

"My estimate would have been 8 to 9 out of 10."

Wow, i'm officially jealous. Can't recall the last time it's been that good here in 'the land under the Jet Stream'. Let's hope we all have great skies and good seeing this winter. Grab what you can now though, because the days will be getting longer again starting tomorrow.

[Rob]

I'm really enjoying the cold weather as a whole. Astronomy has been very enjoyable of late

[tom.yates]

Sounds like you had a great night

[Rob]

Yep, real fun. Just hope it continues into next year!.