Jupiter's Moon get very dim ?

[AztecastroMcJ]

was viewing and imaging Jupiter this morning between 2-5am

when checking moon position on stellarium i noticed sumthing strange

if u go to 3.30am on stellarium zoom in bit on Jupiter so u can see the 4 moons then forward the time towards 4am u will notice moon Callisto dims from mag 6 to 28 ?

was out viewing and this happened as above

just wondering what causes this ?

is it in planets shadow maybe ?

any1 any ideas ?

cheers James

[lukebl]

Callisto did indeed enter Jupiters' Shadow at 03.34 GMT, exiting it at 05:14 GMT this morning. Check Sky and Telescope's ephemeris here

[AztecastroMcJ]

thx for that Luke

hadn't realised moons can be lost in shadow

thought it was just when directly behind planet

cheers for link

James

[lukebl]

thx for that Luke

hadn't realised moons can be lost in shadow

thought it was just when directly behind planet

cheers for link

James

When Jupiter is at opposition, then the shadow is directly behind the planet, but at other times the shadow is offset to one side. For a satellite with as big an orbit as Callisto, you can see the entry and exit from the shadow on the same side of the planet.

[Adam Isa]

AztecastroMcJ, thanks to you, I now know of the zoom function in Stellarium!

[Adam Isa]

I feel compelled to add that I can't believe how much I have been missing out on such a simple feature! It is going to make finding objects so much more easier and improve my knowledge of the sky!