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Jupiter (Planet, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Mon Feb 23 04:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 950
On Sunday night I witnessed an interesting tango of three Galilean satellites from the ASH Naylor Obervatory (see http://www.astrohbg.org). When I first turned the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain towards Jupiter just before 4:30 UT. Io, Europa, and Callisto (at increasing distances from the planet respectively) formed an acute triangle. In an hour and a half's time they had moved to create a straight line. At 9:10 UT the three moons were positioned in the guise of an isosceles triangle with Europa being nearest to Jupiter and Io being farthest from the planet.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Feb 23 02:45:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 946
Tonight, I observed the great red spot on Jupiter at 133X. The GRS has more of a reddish tinge to it than it had last year. The difference though is slight. I also noticed there was a dark pencil like line, bordering the entire GRS. The GRS was supposed to be at meridian at 9:46 PM EST. Instead it seemed well past Meridian by then.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Fri Feb 20 03:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 942
Tonight, I observed Io's shadow enter the face of Jupiter, followed soon by Io itself. It was quite a sight. As Io's shadow moved toward meridian, it became easier to see. I was only able to see Io itself in front of Jupiter for just a short time before I lost sight of it. It looked like a small white dot just below the north equitorial belt. Io's shadow looked like a small black dot. I was also able to see a small white oval on the southern rim of the NEB.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.4, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Feb 20 02:20:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 945
Two Galilean shadow transits took place on Thursday night/Friday morning. Europa's shadow ingressed at 6:55 p.m. EST (23:55 UT 2004/2/19) but I didn't have a chance to catch it until around 9:20 p.m. (2:20 UT). I watched the shadow egress at 2:46 UT. Europa did the same at 3:23 UT. About 3:40 UT Europa and Io were "equidistant" from Jupiter, straddling the planet. Six minutes later the shadow of Io touched Jupiter's cloudtops.Io's shadow trailed two white ovals and was close to what may have been a barge in the NEB. I was able to see Io itself cross the CM sometime after 5:00 UT. The shadow transit came to an end at 5:51 UT. By 6:09 Io's transit was over. The GRS, a pale pink in hue, crossed the CM at 6:24 UT.It was one great night for watching Jupiter. The seeing was extremely good and a magnification of 404x was no problem for the ASH 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain, although 324x was generally more useful.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Feb 19 04:00:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 941
Tonight, I observed Jupiter at 133X. The south polar hood extended to a as close to the south equitorial belt as I have ever seen it. On the north equitorial belt, I observed the two white ovals on the southern portion of the NEB for the second time. Just like last week, one white oval was twice the size of the other. The north polar hood did not extend to the south very much. On this occasion, I was not able to observe the north temperate belt.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Feb 12 04:30:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 937
This evening, I observed Jupiter at 133X. On the north equitorial belt, were two large festoons. There was a fairly large white oval snuggled in between the festoons. In front of the forward festoon was a white oval that was about half the size of the first white oval mentioned. The forward part of the south equitorial belt seemed to be wider than the section of the SEB that had just rotated onto the face of Jupiter.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.5, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: light Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jan 29 04:40:00 2004 UT Obs. no.: 933
Tonight, I observed Jupiter at 133X. The south equitorial belt definately looks wider than the north equitorial belt. This is opposite of other years when the NEB was wider than the SEB. The festooning on the NEB is quite pronounced. As Jupiter gets closer to earth, I am now beginning to glimpse the north temperate belt. The NTB looks like a thin pencil line just north of the NEB. The south polar hood looks two to three times as dark as the north polar hood.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Leo)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Tue Dec 30 04:45:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 925
This evening, I observerd Jupiter at 133X and 200X. Jupiter was still rather low in the sky. The north equitorial belt seemed to be a little bit thinner than the south equitorial belt. However, the NEB was far more lumpier looking than the SEB due to festooning on the NEB. One other thing, was the south polar hood was very pronounced while the north polar hood was almost invisable.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Sep 24 10:15:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 882
This morning, I arose early to observe the conjuction of Jupiter, Mercury and the crescent moon. The earthshine on the moon was as bright as I've ever seen it. At 133X Jupiter's north equitorial belt looked fatter, lumpier and brighter than its south equitorial belt. I was not able to see any other details. I was not able to make out any details of Mercury.Mercury's magnitude appeared to be .5 mag.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Sat Jun 7 01:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 820
This evening, at a local star party, a group of us looked at Jupiter at 250X in a 6" dob. The one think that surprised me was the return of the North Temperate Belt. This particular belt had completely faded away several months ago. It has been over a month since I last obsered jupiter, so I don't know exactly when the NTB returned. At the gathering, we also observed M13, M4, the double double, Albereo and M57.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 11-inch refractor Location: Lancaster, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue May 20 02:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 814
On the evening of May 19th, 2003, I had the opportunity to watch a shadow transit by Io through an 1884 vintage 11" Clark refractor during a public observing session at the Grundy Observatory. The observatory is located on the Baker Campus of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is open to the public on the third Monday of each month, weather permitting.I also happened to catch Io as it emerged from transiting Jupiter. Later Jerry McClune, the telescope operator, allowed me to train the 11" on the fine binary star Gamma Leonis after first giving me the appropriate instruction.Using the observatory's other instrument, a 16" f/13.5 Boller & Chivens classical Cassegrain, we visitors had views of Saturn, Izar, M49, M104, NGC 3242, M65, M66, M81, and M82. Unfortunately, Lancaster's light polluted skies made the job of discerning any detail in the galaxies difficult, as one might expect. The reflector's massive single-arm mount was equipped with a GOTO drive. Manual input of right ascension and declination was accomplished by setting analog dials. The telescope slewed to objects with surprising speed and accuracy.I certainly enjoyed my visit to the Grundy Observatory. It was great fun to do some observing with yet another large Clark refractor.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.0, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Thu May 15 02:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 812
I drove to the ASH Naylor Observatory (click on Naylor Observatory at http://www.astrohbg.org ) last night to help out with the spring introductory astronomy class. The class had already done a bit of solar observing with our old orange-tube 8" f/10 Celestron C8 before I arrived. Although the sun was getting fairly low in the sky I took a quick look and saw three smallish sunspots.I sat in on the class until the sky began to darken. I was awarethat a rather rare shadow transit by Callisto was underway and went out to see it through our 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Astrola. The shadow was clearly evident through a 15mm Edmund Scientific RKE (138x). Callisto and Io were closing in on a mutual occultation (see http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_771_3.aspfor further information) that eventually occurred at 12:11 a.m. EDT (4:11 UT 5/15).As the students started to filter outside I trained the C8 on Jupiter using a 13mm Tele Vue Ploessl (156x) and then opened the French Dome. The transit was displayed quite nicely at 202x through our 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain and a 32mm University Optics Koenig-II. After the students all had had a turn I increased the magnification to 259x (25mm U.O. MK-70), but the view was a bit soft given the seeing. A 28mm RKE (216x) provided a great view a bit later.We began looking at the 13-day old moon and other objects with the 12.5" Cave, the C8, and our 10" f/7 Cave Astrola. I swung the 12.5" to Saturn and then the 17". A few double stars (Mizar, Castor, and Algieba) were sprinkled in as well. Callisto's shadow reached the CM around 9:00 p.m. EDT (2:00 UT 5/15). Bob Young, the class instructor and the club's resident lunar expert, and I spent a few minutes on the moon (not literally mind you) as some clouds began scudding through. Reiner Gamma ( http://web.tiscali.it/no-redirect-tiscali/themoon/reinergamma.htm ) was a standout feature.So on the first semi-clear night in some time an enjoyable evening of observing occurred despite the bright moonlight and occasional clouds.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.2, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: poor Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Apr 25 01:47:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 806
I spent about two hours at the ASH Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) last night. The transparency was poor, with high clouds covering a good portion of the sky, but the seeing was very good indeed. Using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain I had a fine view of the Great Red Spot transit of the central meridian. The atmosphere was steady enough that I was able to use magnifications as high as 404x (16mm Brandon). Other magnifications employed were 162 (40mm University Optics MK-70), 202 (32mm U.O. Koenig-II), 216 (28mm Edmund Scientific RKE), 259 (25mm U.O. MK-70), and 381x (17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl). The GRS crossed the CM at 9:47 p.m. EDT (1:47 4/25 UT). A dark barge in the North Equatorial Belt followed about half an hour later.Since the early night had not lived up to the forecasts, I didn't look at very much else but I did spend some time viewing Saturn (162 and 216x), Jupiter and M44 through the 5" f/5 finder scope, a few binary and multiple stars, and M67 (162x). I also witnessed a fairly bright flare low in the northeast at 10:48 p.m. (2:28 UT) from Iridium 80.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: excellent Seeing: good
Time: Sat Apr 12 23:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 801
Just as it was getting dark, I observed Jupiter at 133X and 200X. On the southern edge of the North Equitorial Belt, there was a fairly large white oval just past the meridian. It looked like it was about three fourths as large as the Great Red Spot usually is. I also noticed the South Equitorial Belt was twice as wide before the meridian as it was past meridian. At high power, both polar regions had a touch of pink in them. I never observed that before. I also aimed my dipole antenna toward Jupiter and briefly listened to Jupiter's radio noise before it quickly faded out.
Jupiter (Planet, est. mag -2.3, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: excellent
Time: Thu Apr 3 03:33:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 799
A number of Astronomical Society of Harrisburg members who gatheredat the Naylor Observatory (http://www.astrohbg.org) were treated to some extremely steady seeing on a very pleasant Wednesday night, 2003/4/3 UT. Those present were Bob Pody, Rob Altenburg, Ted Nichols II, Dave Gaskill, and yours truly. Saturn had its moments through the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain even though it is slipping closer to the western horizon with each passing day. Viewing Jupiter (162, 202, 216, and 259x), however, was a revelation. The GRS transit of the CM at 3:33 UT was one of the best that I've ever seen. The feature dubbed the "eyebrow" that abuts the GRS was plainly evident as were a barge in the NEB and the disruption in the SEB trailing the GRS. I counted 13 cloud belts and bands. If only the new Stellacam EX that ASH recently purchased had been working properly! (We also missed taping a great pass of the ISS on Tuesday night because of the malfunction.)The GRS was clearly visible through ASH member Bob Pody's 60mmUnitron achromat and a 7mm Pentax orthoscopic. Before that I beheld M42, M37, and M35 through Bob's great little refractor. Naturally enough the 12.5" f/6.5 Cave Newtonian did a fine job onJove at 258x (8mm Brandon). A bit later Rob put asteroid 4 Vesta intoview using the 12.5". Earlier I saw the fine binary star Epsilon Monocerotis and the variable star R Leonis thanks to Rob. One of the many deep-sky objects (including NGC 2362, h3945, M42,M65, M66, and NGC 4565) that I observed with the 17" was thebrightest supernova of this year, 14th magnitude SN 2003cg in NGC3169 (162, 202, 216, and 259x). It looked pretty much the same as it did on Monday night. For more on this recently discoveredsubluminous type Ia exploding star see http://www.rochesterastronomy.org/snimages/The temperature in the French Dome was a balmy 66 degrees Fahrenheit at the end of the session, a far cry from Monday night's low of 29 degrees.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: other Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Time: Fri Mar 28 23:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 795
I recently bought a short wave radio in order to try to listen to Jupiter's radio noise. I attached my dipole antenna to it and I tuned in to 21.5. MGH, on the short wave. The forground hiss was loud so I turned the volumne down to see if I could make out the radio noise of Jupiter. After a few minutes, I was able to make out what sounded like waves crashing on to a distant beach coming through the forground hiss. The sound of waves crashing on a distant beach is what Jupiter radio noise sounds like. After a few minutes, the noise stopped and all I had left was the forground hiss on the radio. Also, anyone can hear the Milky Way galaxy noise on 20.5 MGH with the same set up.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Mar 27 23:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 793
This evening, I observered Jupiter at 133X and 200X. There was a shadow transit, I believe it was Io, crossing Jupiter along the northtern side of the equator. The shadow was very easy to see at 200X. The great red spot was also visable on the south equitorial belt. It still has only a pink tinge to it. I also attached my Star Spectroscope to my dob so I could observe the star Regulus in Leo. It looks like a healthy blue white star with one hydrogen spectral line in it.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Mar 24 23:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 791
This evening, I observerd Jupiter at 133X. The North Equitorial Belt had a number of festoons on it. The South Eqiutorial Belt also looked like it had festoons on it. It definitely looked more lumpy than it usualy does. The North Temperate Belt, which faded away a few months ago, has not reappeared.
Jupiter (Planet, est. to be in Cancer)
Observer: Dave Mitsky (e-mail: djm28@psu.edu)
Instrument: 17-inch equatorial reflector Location: Lewisberry, PA, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: poor Seeing: excellent
Time: Wed Mar 19 03:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 788
After the ASH advanced astronomy class had ended I watched Io's shadow transit using the 17" f/15 classical Cassegrain at the ASH Naylor Observatory (see http://www.astrohbg.org/gallery/index.php?show=./visit/3b_17_inch.jpg&offset=0).The transparency varied from bad (mostly cloudy) to mediocre but the seeing was excellent. In fact, I was surprised at just how good it was. The shadow of Io was a sharply defined black spot that crept slowly along Jupiter's equator. I was able to push the magnification to as high as 404x (16mm Brandon) but 249x (26mm Tele Vue Ploessl) provided the best overall view. Other magnifications used were 162 (40mm University Optics MK-70), 202 (32mm U.O. Koenig-II), 216 (28mm Edmund Scientific RKE), 259 (25mm MK-70), and 381x (17mm Pro-Optic Ploessl). The size and brightness differences of the Galilean satellites were quite apparent.The shadow crossed the CM at approximately 3:40 UT. About 3 minutes prior to the end of Io's transit, which occurred at 4:01 UT, I could make out the shape of Io as it neared Jupiter's preceding limb. By 4:03 UT Io had pulled far enough away from Jupiter that I could see a gap. As the gap widened the fact that Io was casting its shadow on the cloud tops of its parent planet grew increasingly evident.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Stuie Wilson (e-mail: dudelam@btinternet.com)
Instrument: 8-inch equatorial reflector Location: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
Light pollution: severe Transparency: fair Seeing: good
Time: Tue Mar 18 20:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 785
Good viewing tonight. Nice and high in the sky over the UK. Full moon aswell. Managed up to 200x. Nice detail in belts.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: fair Seeing: fair
Time: Wed Jan 22 04:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 769
Tonight at 133X, I observed the same white oval on the southern edge of the north eqitorial belt that I observed on Jan. 11th. Size wise, it seems to be about the same size as the great red spot, only more roundish in shape. I also still see no sign of the north temperate belt, which disappeared about six weeks ago. The NTB was easy to see last year and the year before.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Gil Young (e-mail: gjyoung@dontspam.cfl.rr.com)
Instrument: 70-mm other Location: Orlando, Fl, USA
Light pollution: severe Transparency: excellent Seeing: excellent
Time: Fri Jan 17 03:00:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 765
Took my scope out for the first time (ETX-70AT) and this was the second object I focused in on (the first one was a house down the block). Was using the 25mm and then the 9mm eyepiece and had a nice view of the planet and three of it's moons.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: fair
Time: Thu Jan 16 04:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 764
Tonight, I was able to view the great red spot at 200X. The color of the spot now has a pink tinge to it. There also was a black dot on the equitorial zone. This was a shadow caused by one of the moons. I also viewed Saturn at 200X. I still think the south polar hood may be lightening up a bit and the hood may be shrinking a little.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: Michael Amato (e-mail: abigmick@aol.com)
Instrument: 6-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: West Haven, Connecticut, United States
Light pollution: moderate Transparency: good Seeing: good
Time: Sat Jan 11 04:30:00 2003 UT Obs. no.: 759
Tonight, I observed Jupiter at 133X and 200X. A rather large white oval caught my eye as it traveled along the southern edge of the north equitorial belt. It seemed to fit itself between two festoons on the N.E.B. I also noticed that the north temperate belt has been fading away even though Jupiter getting closer to earth for its Jan. 2nd opposition.Two months ago the N.T.B. was very obvious. The moons Io and Europa were also very close to each other.
Jupiter (Planet)
Observer: John Callender (e-mail: jbc@west.net, web: http://www.west.net/~jbc/)
Instrument: 8-inch Dobsonian reflector Location: Carpinteria, CA, USA
Light pollution: light Transparency: excellent Seeing: fair
Time: Mon Dec 30 08:45:00 2002 UT Obs. no.: 756
I hadn't observed Jupiter through the telescope in a while, and after viewing Saturn through the 25mm eyepiece + 2x Barlow lens, I swung over to Jupiter, which looked gigantic! Three Jovian moons visible, all on one side of the planet. I was getting cold, so I didn't really spend the time to look for detail on the planet. Also, I definitely need to collimate my mirrors. I wonder how that might improve my views at high power.
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