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[Centaur]

The giant planet Jupiter currently shines brilliantly in the constellation Gemini. It will appear in opposition to the Sun on 2014 JAN 05. Around that date it will be rising in the east-northeast at sunset, transiting your meridian at local midnight, and setting in the west-northwest at sunrise. These events will occur four or five minutes earlier each succeeding day.

My more detailed description of the current Jupiter apparition appears on my Jupiter webpage: www.CurtRenz.com/jupiter

On that webpage you’ll find a number of Jupiter charts that I have created, including preview graphics of Jupiter’s four large Galilean satellites and their shadow transits across the planet.

Photos and descriptions of Jupiter and its natural satellites would be welcome additions to this thread.

[Paulie pchris00]

I might work backwards on this thread. I have some recent Jovian observations, but I have last Friday night's ready to go, so I'll post it first. Maybe I'll get around to posting the rest...

Jovian observers have many options to help identify the Galilean Moons (sorry, Curt; I mean Galilean Satellites), but I prefer using the predictions by our very own Chicago Astronomer, Curt Renz.

www.curtrenz.com/jupiter


Knowing that Friday night was forecast as mostly clear, I consulted Curt's charts in the early afternoon, and saw that Ganymede would be transiting, with shadow preceding.







I had hoped to get down to Conway Observatory to observe with the 16" LX200, but I had to do a few things, and didn't think I could arrive there before the Ganymede transit began. Instead, I observed from Valpo with my 6" Dob.

While clear, observing conditions were less than optimal. A steady wind and atmospheric turbulence left the Jovian system bouncing around a bit in the eyepiece. With nothing but my cell phone for imaging, it was difficult to get the Galilean Satellites to show up as pinpoints.




Sixty-nine minutes before first contact of Ganymede to the Jovian limb.








Twenty-three minutes before Ganymede's first contact. Jupiter is showing slight banding, maybe the first time I've been able to capture Jovian cloud tops with my cell phone.





Curt's predicted time for the Ganymede shadow transit to begin was as 20:10:35 CST, with the shadow fully upon Jupiter's disk at 20:20:27 CST. With the limited aperture of my Dob, and magnification restricted by the bad seeing, I didn't visually confirm the shadow until 20:18 (8:18 PM CST). As the shadow moved west, farther from the limb, it became easier to observe, but I wasn't able to capture it in an image.

I fared better in timing the contacts, though that may have been just luck. Or maybe using Galilean transits to practice timing before the Venus transit is still paying off. At any rate, after quickly calibrating my wristhingych to my phone, I timed first (external) contact at 9:02:15 PM CST (03:02:15 UT 28-12-2013), just five seconds before Curt's predicted time. I timed the second (internal) contact at 9:11:50 PM CST (03:11:50 UT 28-12-2013), eighteen seconds after Curt's predicted time. With both bodies bright, but Jupiter far outshining its satellites, the internal contacts are much harder to time than the external contacts.






Less than two minutes after second contact.


I packed up shortly after the total transit of Ganymede began. I had thoughts of catching Ganymede reappear later at Conway Observatory, but when I arrived there, high winds kept me from observing. I can't be the only one who prefers planetary observing near opposition in the low summer ecliptic to high, winter ecliptic oppositions. It just gets too cold to observe for long stretches, and my experience is that the clear winter skies are more turbulent than summer nights. I'm not going to hibernate or anything, but I'll be glad when Jupiter is in the region of the Zodiac that Saturn now graces.

[Centaur]

Thanks for your fine report and photos, Paulie. And special thanks for your precise timings that verify my predictions. Actually much credit should go to J.H. Lieske for his high accuracy algorithm and my friend Jean Meeus for publishing it in "Astronomical Algorithms". I agree with you regarding the tradeoff between season and planetary declination. Ahh, for the good old summer time.

[Paulie pchris00]

ABC World News failed tonight. The anchor claimed that Jupiter was making a rare appearance at opposition tonight, and would be visible without a telescope. While that is true, he made it sound like it is the only night this year that Jupiter will be visible.

I wouldn't exactly call Jupiter's oppositions rare. And those who know when and where to look can see Jupiter without a telescope almost every clear night.