Category: Jupiter

Jupiter – August 9, 2008

Jupiter

Jupiter – August 9, 2008
Sketch and Details by Carlos Hernandez

I made an observation of Jupiter on August 9, 2008 using my 9-inch F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain. Much detail was noted over the planet, especially the North Equatorial Belt (NEB) and South Equatorial Belt (SEB). The seeing conditions were above average (5/10) for a short time before the clouds came in and ended my observing session. I welcome any comments that you may have on my observation.

Date (U.T.): August 9, 2008
Time (U.T.): 03:50
L1 201.1, L2 319.1, L3 316.6
Diameter (Equatorial): 46.4″
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 163x
Seeing (1-10): 5, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 4

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appears dark to dusky (3-4) and mottled.
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appears thin and shaded (6/10).
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appears dark to dusky (3-4/10), thin and divided (northern component darker than southern). No ovals visible within it.
South Tropical Zone STrZ): Appears bright (7/10) with a thin, dusky (4/10) band over it’s central portion.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4) and containing dark (3/10) dark condensations along it’s northern border and bright (7/10) undulating sections (strips) within it (preceding section wider in latitude than following).
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appeared shaded to bright (6-7/10) with a thin, dusky (4/10) band across the center of it.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) and thin with dark rods (barges) along it’s northern border. Blue festoons (3/10) noted along it’s southern border.
North Tropical Zone (NTrZ): Appeared bright (7/10), but no other detail visible within it.
North Temperate Belt (NTB): Appeared thin, dark to dusky (3-4/10) and divided by a thin, bright (7/10) zone.
North Polar Region (NPR): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.

A digital image made using Photoshop CS3.

The best of luck in your own observations of Jupiter.

Regards,
Carlos

Details of the Great Red Spot

Great Red Spot

The Great Red Spot
Sketch and Details by Carlos Hernandez

I made an observation of the Great Red Spot (GRS) and surrounding region (South Equatorial Belt (SEB)) on August 10, 2008 (04:30 U.T.). The amount of detail visible within and surrounding the Great Red Spot (GRS) was impressive. The core of the GRS was a dark salmon color (3-4/10) surrounded by a reddish pink to white color (5-7/10) over the rest of the GRS. The South Equatorial Belt (SEB) was a light brown to a greenish-brown color (3-4/10) with bright (7/10), undulating rifts over it’s northern half. The South Tropical Zone (STrZ) appeared bright with a dusky to dull (4-5/10) band appearing to connect to the southern border of the GRS. A dark (3/10) elongated condensation appeared within it following the GRS. An elongated, and bright (7/10) oval BA was noted within the dark (3/10) South Temperate Belt (STB). The center of the GRS was timed at 130.3 (L2, 128.4 L3).

A digital image produced in Photoshop CS3.

Carlos

Planet Five with Two Moons

Jupiter and Moons

Jupiter with Ganymede and Io
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

While spending most of the evening and night outdoors under the stars, I had an opportunity to sketch planet Jupiter as I awaited the moonrise.

Jupiter was not very high above my southeastern horizon but the seeing was quite good for my location. I was able to see the great red spot not far from Jupiter’s preceding limb on the southern edge of the south equatorial belt. The belt appeared bisected over most of the viewing area. Superimposed on the north temperate belt I was able to clearly see the shadow of Ganymede near the preceding limb. The satellite was lost in the front of Jupiter to the east of the shadow as it made its transit in front of the giant. Also visible in the field of view were moons Europa and further from the planet on the other side Io.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 11”, and a white Conte’ pastel pencil. I added the moons to the black paper using the white pastel pencil. The sketch of Jupiter was done on white sketching paper using HB, 2B and 4B graphite pencils an eraser shield, and a blending stump. I carefully cut the sketch of Jupiter from the white paper and using a small piece of double sided carpet tape added it to the black paper. Brightness was slightly decreased (-4) and contrast increased (+3) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 6-23-2008 4:25 – 4:55 UT
Temperature: 15°C (59°F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Pickering 7.0

Frank McCabe

Last Summer’s Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

Date (U.T.): July 21, 2007
Time (U.T.): 04:20
L1 300.0, L2 115.3, L3 012.3
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 273x
Filters: None (IL)
Seeing (1-10): 6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 4-5

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appeared thin and bright (7/10).
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appeared thin and dark to dusky (3-4/10). No ovals noted at this time within it.
South Tropical Zone (STrZ): Appears bright (7/10) and contains the Great Red Spot (GRS) and a dull (5/10) band following the GRS.
Great Red Spot (GRS): Appears dusky to dull (4-5/10) with a dark (3/10) center. I was unable to time it as a tree blocked my view.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appears irregular, especially preceding the Great Red Spot (GRS). The portion of the SEB preceding the GRS appears dark to dull (3-5/10) over it’s northern half whereas dusky (4/10), isolated condensations are noted along the typical southern border of the SEB. The SEB following the GRS appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) containing bright (7/10) ovals/rifts within it.
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appears shaded to bright (6-7/10) and contains a band (EZB) across it’s midsection. Blue festoon projections (from blue festoons along the NEB-S) are also noted within it.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a bright (7/10) rift originating preceding the CM (over the southern border) and extending towards the following limb. Two blue festoon bases were noted along the southern border of the NEB.
North Temperate Belt (NTB): Appears north of the NEB as broad, dusky (4/10) band.
North Polar Region (NPR): Appears dark to dull (3-5/10) and mottled.

Captivating Conjunction

Moon venus and Jupiter

Moon, Venus and Jupiter Conjuction
By Carlos E. Hernandez

Moon, Venus, and Jupiter

On February 5, 2008 (11:35 U.T.) I was able to view a very thin Waning Crescent Moon (27.9 days old) visible floating above (~5 degrees) a lavender cloud covered southeastern horizon. Venus was a very bright beacon (-3.97m) 12.2 degrees southwest of the Moon. Jupiter was a bright pastel orange-white star (~-1.87m) 4.0 degrees southwest of Venus. The southeast horizon exhibited pastel yellow to orange colors. I hope that others were able to view this pairing as well.

A digital image produced in Corel Painter X.