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Old 04-01-2018, 08:09 PM
glend (Glen)
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Jupiter and Mars Conjunction on Sunday Morning

This seems to be a pretty spectactular meeting of these two planets. You will need to be outside at 4:30am looking east at around 30 degrees altitude. They will be separated by about 0.2 degrees and may easily be observed in a telescope field of view. Worth getting up for imho. For the planetary imaging guys, maybe it will still be dark enough then to grab a video file, worth a try.

This is the beginning of the 2018 planetary season, as they are finally getting into position for us to appreciate them again.

Last edited by glend; 04-01-2018 at 09:38 PM.
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Old 04-01-2018, 08:30 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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Glen ..This looks like a cracker of a year to observe and image all the planets.
Even Mars and Saturn will be within 1°16' of each other on 2nd April 2018 , 22.44 AEST ; both at Mag 0.3...Get those wide fields ready.
bigjoe

Last edited by bigjoe; 04-01-2018 at 09:08 PM. Reason: Adding
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Old 04-01-2018, 09:33 PM
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mozzie (Peter)
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Thanks for the reminder..
Weather looking good this weekend fingers crossed

Mozzie
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Old 04-01-2018, 10:31 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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The weather forecast for Sunday morning is favourable, so far, for the Sydney, Wollongong , Newcastle areas with a calm patch of jetstream above as well. Will definitely be out observing and imaging the conjunction.
Being able to get 2 bright planets in one medium power field is something I've never seen before, pity Mars wasn't closer to opposition and a bit bigger than 7" dia. so that some detail could be seen at the same time as Jupiters main belts and moons.
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Old 05-01-2018, 01:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glend View Post
This seems to be a pretty spectactular meeting of these two planets. You will need to be outside at 4:30am looking east at around 30 degrees altitude. They will be separated by about 0.2 degrees and may easily be observed in a telescope field of view. Worth getting up for imho. For the planetary imaging guys, maybe it will still be dark enough then to grab a video file, worth a try.

This is the beginning of the 2018 planetary season, as they are finally getting into position for us to appreciate them again.
The closest approach is indeed 4:30 but it is UTC which is shortly after noon in Australia. But any decent telescope will show Mars on the daylight sky with the help of the much brighter Jupiter.

See Stellarium picture (from central NSW at 01:00 UTC == 12:00 AEDT). Closest approach.
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Last edited by skysurfer; 05-01-2018 at 02:31 AM. Reason: Added screenshot
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Old 05-01-2018, 03:27 AM
glend (Glen)
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Originally Posted by skysurfer View Post
The closest approach is indeed 4:30 but it is UTC which is shortly after noon in Australia. But any decent telescope will show Mars on the daylight sky with the help of the much brighter Jupiter.

See Stellarium picture (from central NSW at 01:00 UTC == 12:00 AEDT). Closest approach.
Sky Safari shows the pair at 30 degress altitude at 90 degrees East at 4:35am AEDT, and obviously it is visible prior to that below 30 degrees altitude. The Moon is over by the northern Meridian at that time. Splitting hairs over the UTC closest approach, after daylight, is irrelevant to most Australian observers, which is why the information was posted as written. Closest spproach is a misnomer in any case, as it is apparent separation at this angle as viewed from Earth. If your in Australia and go outside between 4 and 4:30am AEDT on Sunday morning you won't be able to miss it, whether using your naked eye, binos, or your other gear.

Last edited by glend; 05-01-2018 at 03:41 AM.
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Old 05-01-2018, 06:25 AM
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mozzie (Peter)
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Went for a peek at Jupiter this morning and as usual light cloud typical this time of year..
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Old 05-01-2018, 09:50 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Went for a peek at Jupiter this morning and as usual light cloud typical this time of year..
Likewise for me, except it was heavy cloud. I won't give up trying though!
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Old 05-01-2018, 10:55 AM
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Bob
I had just purchased 2 new eyepieces and wanted to have a peek last night before the moon rise..
Absolute perfect day come 8ish not one star to be seen all night..
6.30 this morning cloud gone another ripper off s day..
I bet I know what tonight will do again
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Old 05-01-2018, 02:39 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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[QUOTE=Tropo-Bob;1350984]Likewise for me, except it was heavy cloud. I won't give up trying though![/QUOTE

Same here Bob ..Attacked by blood sucking Mozzies , whilst looking for sucker holes all night long..have not been able to finish some double star obs with 9 mag plus secondaries from the city, as a test to how faint I can go on them with some Moon and average seeing.
bigjoe.
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Old 06-01-2018, 08:33 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Hi All,

I have been observing Jupiter and Mars at 4.00am the last 2 mornings from my holiday house 220km south of Sydney.
As they are sitting around 25 to 30 deg there is a bit of turbulence etc as I am sitting only 50m above sea level but views still good. Cloud bands very defined on Jupiter and 4 moons all lined up on axis. Mars ok but not defined

Can’t wait for Sunday morning

Using my 10” dob with 6mm Delos and #80A med blue filter

Martin
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Old 06-01-2018, 10:01 AM
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I've been observing this past week both Mars and Jupiter as they dance around Zubenelgenubi, the star with the best name of all.

This morning I used my Tele Vue-60 and 6-3mm Nagler zoom and 2.5mm Nagler with and without Tele Vue Bandmate Planetary filter. At the 6mm setting both planets were on the edge of the same field of view, this at 60x. At 120x and 144x I could see the GRS on Jupiter along with numerous bands. The contrast on this little 'scope is astounding!

Mars was clearly a disk but bland even though seeing wasn't too bad given the altitude. I've seen Syrtis Major (as an obvious dark patch) with this little telescope when Mars was around 5 arc seconds when it was in the evening sky a few months ago at a similar altitude. I checked the ephemeris later and found Syrtis Major was around the other side at the time.

I'm looking forward to the opposition of Mars this year which will see Mars appear about 5x larger than currently at 24.3 arc seconds on July 27.
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Old 06-01-2018, 05:43 PM
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Preview seen !

Saturday morning in EU (18:30 AEDT) I saw both planets rather close in morning twilight with my 80mm tabletop scope + Nagler 13T6.

I found Alpha Librae a few degrees west of them.

Tomorrow morning they are even closer, I hope it is clear then.
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Old 06-01-2018, 06:13 PM
bigjoe (JOSEPH)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skysurfer View Post
Saturday morning in EU (18:30 AEDT) I saw both planets rather close in morning twilight with my 80mm tabletop scope + Nagler 13T6.

I found Alpha Librae a few degrees west of them.

Tomorrow morning they are even closer, I hope it is clear then.
Im hoping the same Skysurfer ..will be up early with the refractor 24 Pan and. 11mm Nagler at f5..what a sight its going to be.and Yes Zubenelgenubi( very wide double is nearby)..lovely colours even in Binos.
bigjoe.
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Old 07-01-2018, 03:37 AM
glend (Glen)
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Wonderful vews of the conjunction just now. I was able to get both Mars and Jupiter in the field of view of my 15mm Superview EP on my Edge HD8 scope (@ 2032mm fl).

Banding on Jupiter stood out well and I was treated to the additional conjunction of Europa and Io, nearest to Jupiter, passing within a hairs width of each other but with a clear gap.
Glad i took the trouble to look.

Mars was not great in detail, being so far away from Earth right now, but had good ol Mars colour but suffered from a little from Seeing conditions at that altitude.

Last edited by glend; 07-01-2018 at 03:51 AM.
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Old 07-01-2018, 03:52 AM
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Im hoping the same Skysurfer ..will be up early with the refractor 24 Pan and. 11mm Nagler at f5..what a sight its going to be.and Yes Zubenelgenubi( very wide double is nearby)..lovely colours even in Binos.
bigjoe.
It is even possible to see them by daylight, closest approach occurs in daylight in Australia, but, even for a small telescope this is no problem. Jupiter is easy to find and is a 'guide' to find Mars.
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Old 07-01-2018, 04:11 AM
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Sounds like it's quite a view Glen. Too many clouds here but I'll try again later in hope of a lucky break. I'm really looking forward to imaging 'The Mars show' later on in the year.
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Old 07-01-2018, 04:37 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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WOW! These are really close. Its like a visual double, a bright white and a lesser red.

Using a 120x ortho EP, I can comfortable fit both in the same field of view.

All Jupiter's Moons are strung out to one side, and Mars is roughly perpendicular to them, but only a about 2.5 times the visual distance as from Jupiter to outermost Callisto. Very impressive.

Although Mars is the less bright of the two, when I view it through the scope, it can be seen that it is brighter per unit of its surface area. There is just so much less of it.

No detail seen on Mars at 120x. Conditions are only fair. There is the largest ring around the Moon that I have ever noticed; over 20 degrees in radius. So more rain is probably on the way.
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Old 07-01-2018, 07:43 AM
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Hmm cloud here too humid I guess. Probably should have gone up the mountains.
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Old 07-01-2018, 07:59 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Observed this morning at 4.00am however seeing conditions were average, yesterday morning at same time was much better, could see defined cloud bands and moons were sharp

Still a great event to get both planets in your field of view

Martin
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