Finally got up early enough...

[AlexM]

...to see Jupiter for the first time this year. At 3.15 BST this morning I pointed the dob at Jupiter and was rewarded with the unusual view of a very obvious reddish brown NEB(?) and a faint line where the SEB sould have been. The disc looks huge compared to the views of saturn I've had earlier in the year. I teased out some detail on the NEB - saw what looked like a big white spot on it at one point. Half an hour or so after I started observing, a moon popped out from behind Jupiter, completing the set of 4. I'll check stellarium tonight to find out which one. The 5mm hyperion gave the best views at 240x, although the barlowed 14mm meade was also pretty good. I went back to bed happy, only for the alarm to go off at 6!

[russ]

...to see Jupiter for the first time this year. At 3.15 BST this morning I pointed the dob at Jupiter and was rewarded with the unusual view of a very obvious reddish brown NEB(?) and a faint line where the SEB sould have been. The disc looks huge compared to the views of saturn I've had earlier in the year. I teased out some detail on the NEB - saw what looked like a big white spot on it at one point. Half an hour or so after I started observing, a moon popped out from behind Jupiter, completing the set of 4. I'll check stellarium tonight to find out which one. The 5mm hyperion gave the best views at 240x, although the barlowed 14mm meade was also pretty good. I went back to bed happy, only for the alarm to go off at 6!

Well done on your early start. It's a bit of shocker when it seems you've only just got back in bed and the alarm is going again. Detail sounds about what i can see too. Again, best mag for me is between 190x and 250x. All bodes well for a month or so time when Jupiter reaches full elevation of just over 40deg.