Posts Tagged ‘Jupiter’

One of the interesting features about Jupiter is the Great Red Spot (GRS). The GRS is a vast storm, spinning like a cyclone. I learned that the GRS would transit on September 28, 2009 around 11:17 PM EDT (you can get that information here) so I setup my DS-90 and got ready to watch. I know that this happens often enough that it shouldn’t be a big deal but, I never took tje time to really look at the event. The moon on this night was waxing gibbous and shining brightly just left of Jupiter.

I focused on Jupiter at x40 and then dropped in my 11mm Plossl for x90. Much to my disappointment, the planet seemed to boil. This is an effect of the atmosphere known as “Seeing”. While the sky was transparent, the view was poor. You can learn more about Seeing and Transparency here.

As I continued to look, waiting for breaks in the turbulent atmosphere, I caught a few glimpses of the GRS which appeared as a light grayish oval at x90. At x117 the seeing was just a nightmare so I stayed at x90 for the night. 

I will try to watch this event again in the coming weeks.

Clear Skise,

-Dan

We had some friends over for diner tonight and during diner we promised them a surprise to end the night. Around 9:00PM EDT, I setup my DS-90 to have a look at Jupiter. I dropped in my MA25 eyepiece, which gives me x40, and targeted the bright planet which was well placed for the nights viewing. Jupiter with it’s four bright moons is always a crowd pleaser and tonight was no different. Being that this was our friends first time looking through a telescope, I had to give a little instruction but they caught on quickly. They were wowed with the appearance of Jupiter, noting the two ruddy bands that run through the equitorial reigon and some slight coloration in the polar areas as well. And of course the four bright moons.

Anytime you get a chance share your interest in astronomy with someone, it’s always a rewarding experience. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity to show a friend the moon, a planet or deep sky object through your telescope. They’ll talk about for some time to come.

Clear Skies.

But so what? It was late and I had a long day designing a website for a fussy client and just didn’t feel like getting out my scope so, I grab my trusty binoculars. Nothing major about my binoculars, 7 x 35, kind of small for astronomy. But hey, it’s what I got.

So, what’s cool to look at? I looked at the moon, of course. saw some craters. I know many seasoned amature astronomers don’t bother to look at the moon so much because they looked at it a thousand times. So have I and I will continue to look at the moon because it’s still interesting. Always will be.

Next, I turned my attention to Jupiter. Perfectly placed for viewing. Even though my binocluars are small, I can still see the largest moons. The area of sky where Jupiter is currently placed was awash with moon light but I could still make out two of the moons on one side of the big planet and, I suspected one on the other side, but I couldn’t be sure.

Maybe tonight, if all is quite, I’ll take out my camera and try to capture Jupiter. We shall see.