Red alert! Jupiter tonight - triple shadow transit

tiger roach

Urban Bovine Knievel
All of you who are equipped to view Jupiter in any detail at all (roughly 4" scope or better IME), tonight is a rare opportunity to see three moon shadows on the face of the planet at the same time. Timing and other details at the link below, or consult your handy stargazing app.

If you have not observed a moon shadow transit before, this is a great one to warm up on. For me, this is one of the greatest things about viewing Jupiter, even a common single shadow is a treat.

Other than having a scope and enough sky clarity to see the planet, the big variable is seeing. To see detail like this on the planets the air needs to be at least moderately steady. This can be chancy in the winter, when big temperature drops after dark can make images in the eyepiece swim and blur, but sometimes if you observe long enough, even a bad seeing night will have enough moments of steadiness to make it worthwhile.

Looks like the clouds here should clear in time - fingers crossed! Hopefully I won't get hosed like I did a week ago. :grin:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/dont-miss-jupiters-shadow-trifecta/

Triple-Anno-South-up-FINAL_ST-430x360.jpg
 
Nice!

At our place, sunset is about an hour (or more) earlier than everywhere else due to the hills. Ha. Temps should be pretty steady by 10:30 Pacific. :thu:
 
Yay, got it done in spite of heavy dew. Europa and Io were tricky, being close to the edges.

Going to bed now. o_O
 
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