Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jul 1, 2007 13:14:52 GMT -6
Mini Star Party Observing the Venus & Saturn Conjunction
Not wanting to miss the two planets come ever so closer together, Chicago Astronomer Steve and I ventured out to the Adler grounds to set up our scopes and observe this rare event.
It was warm and pleasant evening and the sky painted beautifully. But it was a bit of trouble getting to the Adler site, (Chicago Astronomer site #2), considering the group "Chicago" was performing a handful of yards from our location. We were entertained by the group's biggest hits like "Does any one know what time it is?", 25 or 6 to 4 , (what does that mean?), and other cool tunes.
Steve takes time to set up his motorized Celestron, while I just drag out the 4.5" out of it's bag and I'm ready. People started to approach us and surprisingly many were aware of the Venus/Saturn paring.
Looking up toward the west, Venus shone ever so brightly with Saturn situated above. I have never observed two planets in the same eyepiece field before...and this was fantastic!
I was able to observe the two planets in my scope using a maximum of a 17mm eyepiece, it just covered the two. But in Steve's SCT, the field was too narrow regardless of the eyepieces we tried.
Observing Saturn with her ring system and the 1/2 phase of Venus so close together and within the same field of view was an exciting sight for this astronomer!...
The little things.Saturn and Venus were sinking into the Chicago muck, but Jupiter was clearing the low cloud cover and surrounding trees now, so we slewed our instruments toward the King of the Planets.
Jupiter's brightest satellites made an interesting formation, almost a trapezium-like asterism. Yet another great sight!... ;D
I took these shots, handheld thru Steve's scope, and they came out half decent. I need to get me a T-Mount for the camera!
Taking a chance, I zoomed in as best I could and tried to image Jupiter and it's bands. Not the best shot, but it does demonstrate the missing EQ band. It was exposed with an ISO of 800, hence the excessive graininess, but I needed the extra light boost and exposure time short.
Earlier this month, Chicago Astronomer Bill and I observed Jupiter at Chicago Astronomer site # 3 and made note that one of Jupiter's bands was faded and almost gone. I thought my eyesight was messed up. Without any news of this in astronomical circles, we thought it odd. Now, reports from all over the world are stating the same. NASA says that the northern band is disappearing and the southern one building up contrast. This will make the Great Red Spot easier to observe. No one knows why this is happening.
People who came up to us were quite excited as well in seeing all these planets, right there and in real time. And we were happy to share the views.
The Moon was rising over Lake Michigan thru low clouds and made a nice shot...
During the down times when the public waned, I took this shot of a contrail passing close to Altar and a spattering of stars...
It's almost comet like.
Here Steve and I pose by our scopes with the blazing city behind us. It looks like Steve just wasn't all there this evening.
We decided to pack up shop and leave before the concert concluded to beat the rush out of the parking lot. So, we were serenaded by "Chicago" as we assembled ourselves and another mini session to remember.
It was a good evening of planet watching and sharing the skies with the public. We will try to make it out again Sunday and Monday evening as well, as tonight, the 1st of July, is the tightest Venus and Saturn will get.
