Jovial Reminder

30Jan06

Jupiter as seen by Cassini
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

With Saturn reaching opposition, it’s likely attracted the most observational attention of late. If you have the opportunity, though, Jupiter will make for a fine pre-dawn target this week. Look toward the Southeast in the hours before sunrise and you’ll see our largest planetary neighbor in the heart of the constellation Libra at -2 magnitude.

If you’re able to set up the morning of February 2nd (with appropriate equipment of course, and conditions-permitting), you’ll be able to see Io (and the moon’s shadow) transit Jupiter’s surface. Io’s shadow will become visible at approximately 4:12 AM Eastern time, and the moon’s transit will begin at 5:27 AM ET. This should make for quite a sight, as the Great Red Spot will come into view as Io’s transit progresses.

There’s a handy list of Galilean Moon events located here, and, if you don’t have access to comprehensive astronomy/planetarium software, Sky & Telescope offers a great little JavaScript utility here, which will allow you to identify and follow Jupiter’s largest four.

Clear skies!

Share or save this entry:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • del.icio.us
  • digg
  • Fark
  • Furl
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • TailRank
  • YahooMyWeb
Filed under: Astronomy, Observing, Jupiter   |  

6 Responses to “Jovial Reminder”  

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address
  1. 1 Adin on Jan 31st, 2006 said:

    Sweet new website dude!

    I have been having heaps of problems with my internet connection and will have to catch up with you soon now that it’s fixed!

    Keep up the killer work!

  2. 2 Wolverine on Jan 31st, 2006 said:

    Hey, thanks. Glad you enjoy. :)

  3. 3 Eric Ingram on Jan 31st, 2006 said:

    With a 90mm cat, I don’t think I can see the GRS on Jupiter. I can usually distinguish the different belts and zones, but I’ve yet to see the spot. :(

  4. 4 Wolverine on Jan 31st, 2006 said:

    ETX-90?

  5. 5 Eric Ingram on Feb 1st, 2006 said:

    Yup.

  6. 6 Wolverine on Feb 1st, 2006 said:

    Thought that might be it. I’ve never looked through one but would think that’d be enough aperture to catch the GRS. There are several good examples here of the GRS showing up in imagery with the ETX-90; while it’ll certainly appear fainter visually, you might be able to enhance its appearance via filtration.

    If it’d be of help, there’s a S&T guide to GRS transits here along with a calculator.

Leave a Reply

(required)

(required)

Quicktags:


rss

RSS 2.0 feed for entries. entries

RSS 2.0 feed for comments. comments

Related Entries

  • The Messenger
  • A friendly observing reminder: this week marks a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of elusive Mercury in the morning as it shares the stage with neighboring Venus. On
  • Final Approach
  • Image Credit: NASA The latest from JPL: NASA's Stardust Passes Moon, Just Hours Away From Earth Return Less than one day of space travel separates Earth and history's first comet sample return mission.
  • Repair Pledge
  • As I wrote in December, the future continues to brighten for the Hubble Space Telescope. While prudent to remain cautiously optimistic for the time being, it appears efforts to repair
  • Lightning Safety and Myths
  • Lightning strike near Pueblo, Colorado. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration While reading through updates to the NOAA's page yesterday, I came across this new release. It serves as an unfortunate
  • Google Earth goods
  • When Google Earth initially debuted I viewed it as a nifty toy of sorts, in a "Cool, I can see my house from here!" sort of way. Like many, I'd
  • Time for Saturn
  • Time Magazine currently showcases their editors' picks for the top ten images of the year shown in their Pictures of the Week feature. Viewers can vote on this page for

faves

Bad Astronomy Universe Today RichardDawkins.net James Randi Educational Foundation National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Planetary Society Planetary Photojournal HubbleSite SkyTonight The Skeptic's Dictionary Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter The Skeptics Society Earth and Sky Cassini-Huygens Point of Inquiry Spaceweather Mars Exploration Rovers Solar and Heliospheric Observatory KUT 90.5 FM, Austin Texas