On Friday, January 23rd, there was a triple moon transit on Jupiter. Io, Europa, and Callisto all crossed the planet’s disk and cast shadows on their way. It was a busy night for several hours, but at 11:10 Pacific time the view became almost comical: Io and Europa made tiny ears on either side of the planet while Callisto and its shadow provided eyes and Europa’s shadow provided a mole above the left eye. The polar regions provided a stocking cap and a bushy beard.
The view was through a 12.5″ binocular telescope, which added a 3-dimensional effect that really made the face stand out. The extra mirrors in the binocular scope create an image that’s upside down but correct left-right.
* Object Name: Jupiter triple transit
* Object Type: Planet and moons
* Location: Eugene, Oregon
* Date: January 23, 2015
* Media: Graphite pencil on white paper
Jerry Oltion
Eugene Astronomical Society
Aloha Jerry,
Excellent work recording the triple moon transit. Your sketch shows a lot of detail and your written observations made me smile. Its hard to see it any other way once you have descibed it! Hope to see more of your sketches and observations here on ASOD,
Warmest regards,
Cindy
Jerry,
Nice sketch of Jupiter and this fine event.
Are you the Jerry Oltion that writes science fiction and builds telescopes?
Frank 🙂
>Are you the Jerry Oltion that writes science fiction and builds telescopes?
Guilty. I’ve been doing a lot more telescope building than writing lately, but yeah, I do both those things. Thanks to Cindy (above) I’ve started sketching, too. I’m looking forward to doing more of that when the weather warms up. (I live in the Pacific Northwest, so it’s kinda damp and chilly out here this time of year. I was really lucky to see the transit.)
Jerry