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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Chicago Astronomer Site #2
08 June 2007

Chicago Astronomer Bill called and encouraged me to come out in the cool spring evening and conduct a mini star party to test out eyepieces he recently got. I had contemplated a venture out too as I also wanted to put a new Mak spotting scope I got thru it paces.

Originally we had planned to set up by the South Lawn of the Adler Planetarium, but Cheryl Crow was performing at the unwanted Northerly Island stage just a few yards from the Adler, and with it, heavy traffic and congestion. We decided on an old stand by, Chicago Astronomer site #2, just off downtown.

We set up about 8:00 pm and with the whole field before us, had plenty of room. The sky was still rather bright, but Venus and Saturn were punching thru the twilight.

I got this 3.1 Lb Maksutov-Cassegrain mini spotting scope recently and had hoped to use it as a telephoto lens for the Canon Powershot S3 or a finder scope for my 8" sewer pipe Dob.

It's a C65 Mini Mak - 65mm Spotting Scope from Celestron with a non-removable zoom eyepiece and 835mm Focal length. I had high hopes for the scope, but it was not to be.

The performance of the scope was rather poor. The focuser is a knurled knob on the side with not to smooth of a focusing action. The field of view is small, (1.5"-5"), and at higher magnification, quite dim. It's hard to aim the thing, with the best efforts of sighting over the top of the short tube...which was hit and miss.

It didn't show any of the phase of Venus, Saturn was a small oblong object, and although Jupiter's Satellites were visible, no detail on the planet was discernible.

It was agreed that this scope is sub par and I shall return it early next week. Too bad.

With that, we continued our observation session. Bill brought along his 10" Antares dob, which provides very nice bright views.

Views of Saturn and Venus were nice, but Jupiter was odd looking this evening. Missing were the two clear cloud bands and smaller banding. What I saw was only one strong band, whereas I always have seen both in direct contrast. I thought perhaps it was just me and my poor eyesight, but Bill concurred with my observation. Even the use of filters did not bring the second band out.

I took advantage of the opportunity to do some handheld astrophotography thru his scope.

Taken with the S3, the camera confirms what we both observed. A band has faded.

We then continued with exploring the evening sky. Bill is the master in picking objects out without hesitation. Observed M57, M13 and alberio in both my modest 4.5" and his dob.

With city glare interferring, binoculars were put into use to help locate.

We were picking out various objects talking astronomy and catching up on personal things in our lives. We stayed well past 12:00 am. The cool air quite comfortable, but dew started to form on things and we called it a night.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

In regards to my observation of the missing major band on Jupiter, I posted my finding on a yahoo group, (Starrynights), and reported what I saw, with a link back to this thread.

Geoff from Canada makes this narrative:

I had my first really good look at Jupiter last night with my 11" Starmaster,
and can confirm "the case of the missing band." What appears to have happened
is that the normally dark south component of the South Equatorial Belt has faded
almost to invisibility, and the north component has expanded northward into the
Equatorial Zone, which has become incredibly rich and complex. The North
Temperate belt has become quite dark, and had an odd ochre hue last night. So
you end up with one broad dark "belt" consisting of the SEBn, the EZ, the NEB,
the NTrZ, and the NTB! The southern part of the planet is dominated by a wide
bright "zone" comprising the SEBs, STrZ, STB, and STZ, almost as broad as the
dark "belt" in the north. The Great Red Spot, instead of sitting like an egg in
the egg-cup of the Red Spot Hollow in a darkish SEBs, is now floating naked in
this broad bright "zone." A very different Jupiter, indeed!

One thing I noticed strongly last night was that the Red Spot was much more
clearly visible towards the limb of the planet, but seemed to fade as it moved
towards the central meridian. I've seen this sometimes before, and I think it's
because the GRS is actually a hollow in Jupiter's atmosphere, and this gives the
same effect you sometimes see with sunspots as they near the Sun's limb.

I'm not sure how this will affect the visibility of the Red Spot with small
apertures. Certainly it was extremely clear in my 11" last night, when it had
only been the vaguest shading in my 6" SCT two nights earlier, but the seeing
two nights ago was quite poor compared to last night. By the time the Red Spot
reached the central meridian last night at 1:36 a.m., I was too cold and tired
to drag out a second telescope to do a comparison!

Geoff

--
Geoff Gaherty
Foxmead Observatory
Coldwater, Ontario, Canada
www.gaherty.ca

=============

I wonder why we are not receiving major reports from the astronomical community/NASA on the vanishing band on Jupiter, I do not believe I have ever read that an entire band on the planet just dissapeared!

I'm glad I captured and imaged it and it wasn't just my imagination.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Curt brings to me attention a nice poem by James Russell Lowell...

=========

What Is So Rare As A Day in June

AND what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,-
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

Now is the high-tide of the year,
And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer,
Into every bare inlet and creek and bay;
Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God wills it;
No matter how barren the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green;
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes but we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear and grass is growing;
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near,
That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,
That the robin is plastering his house hard by;
And if the breeze kept the good news back,
For our couriers we should not lack;
We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing,-
And hark! How clear bold chanticleer,
Warmed with the new wine of the year,
Tells all in his lusty crowing!

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;
Everything is happy now,
Everything is upward striving;
'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,-
'Tis for the natural way of living:
Who knows whither the clouds have fled?
In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake,
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth,
And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe
Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,
Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.

James Russell Lowell

=======

Thanks Curt!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Comparison of Jupiter's missing Southern band

There is a discussion of the missing band on massive Jupiter at the starrynights yahoo group , in that it has occurred prior in 1987. I have taken the liberty to repost here along with images...

----------------

I've noticed it, too. If you compare images I've captured of Jupiter
about a year ago vs one I captured this past weekend, it's easy to see:

dohickey.net/pics/astro/2.html

dohickey.net/pics/astro/1.html

DL Sharp
Cincinnati, OH

=========

The belts of Jupiter have tended to come and go over the years, so it's not big
news. They are just atmospheric phenomena after all. I think most people just
haven't seen Jupiter for themselves so far this year because it's been low and
rising late until the last week or two, so nobody has noticed except for the
dedicated imagers at more southern latitudes. Certainly there's been a lot of
talk about it on the ALPO Jupiter Yahoo Group. Since these folks are mostly
imagers, and the belt changes are not as noticable in detailed images, they
haven't realized just how different Jupiter looks this year to us visual
astronomers.

Geoff Gaherty
Foxmead Observatory
Coldwater, Ontario, Canada
www.gaherty.ca

------------------------

This happened back in 1987 when the South Temperate Belt was not visible,
except near ovals BC and DE. Also memorable that year was a highly unusual
series of dark spots that were visible to the North Polar Region. I made a
series of sketches that show these features and will scan them in and add
them to my web page in the near future.

Eric Jamison
members.leapmail.net/~ericj/

----------------

Last Wednesday I was using my Unaluminized 8" Mirror to do a Star
Test on it and after the test I decided to look at Jupiter with it around
2230 hours and I only saw one Cloud Belt so I chalked it up to the uncoated
mirror but from this thread now I'm not sure that it was due to the Unaluminized
Mirror.

33.863* N. 118.177* W
Mike White
Long Beach, CA.
90805-3530
U.S.A.

=================

I thank fellow astronomers Mike, Geoff, Eric and DL Sharp, (and his great pics), for their input on my initial observation...