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  #41  
Old 27-05-2017, 10:04 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Saturn's brightest 2 Moons have their greatest Elongations tonight.

Titan, the most visible moon (Mag 8.4) has its greatest Elongation East, whilst Rhea, the second brightest moon (Mag 9.6) has it greatest Elongation West.

I plan to follow these moons in the coming days or months to give myself a better appreciation of the 3D aspect of viewing Saturn and its Moons.

After being comfortable in immediately identifying Rhea, I will then hope to build on this knowledge to improve my knowledge of the inner Moons.



Quote:
Originally Posted by OffGrid View Post
Thanks Bob for heads up on Comet 2015 V2. ( Johnson ).

With assist from SkiSafari 5 Pro and this link http://members.westnet.com.au/mmatti/sc.htm I was able to find it.

From our lit up skies at around 22:00 last night, I could nearly make out something with avert vision in 7x50 bino's and confirmed that with a little blob in the GSO 10" dob with a 2" 30mm eyepiece from Bintel.
Well done! I am surprised you saw it with binoculars.


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Originally Posted by OzEclipse View Post
Tried it under dark skies tonight with 7x35 binoculars. Almost drowning in dew by 730pm, camera lenses fogging so didn't set up the scope.

Joe
Joe, I hope U have a better night tonight.
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Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky View Post
Just been outside trying from Coburg in Melbourne with 7x50 bins but no sighting. There is just too much light pollution. I need to be home under my dark skies in Tassie with a larger scope!
Steve, I hope U see if with the big 140mm before the Moon interferes.
I hope the same for me. I had a family dinner last night and afterwards set up for a quick look with the 80mm and then intended to get serious when the clouds really spoilt my plans.
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  #42  
Old 01-06-2017, 09:56 PM
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I also find chasing down Saturn's moons an interesting challenge. Now is the best opportunity with Saturn at Opposition. I had a quick look at Saturn between cloud banks this evening whilst waiting for the clouds to clear around Comet Johnson.
Titan, Rhea, Tethys and Dione were clearly visible. With some effort and patience, Iapetus and Enceladus were visible if I moved Saturn and it's rings just outside the field of view. The Moon was impacting the visibility of these two moons.
Scope: Vixen NA140SS with LVW13 giving 62X on TRex mount.
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  #43  
Old 09-06-2017, 04:41 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Moon shadows on Jupiter tonight

I will check out Io and Europa's shadows on Jupiter tonight. Io's shadow is normally easier to view. Europa forms the least distinct shadow of the big 3 inner Moons. They will be both visible between 8.30 and 9.30 tonight.

Re tracking Saturn's Moons: This has proved difficult, mainly coz of the weather. I also missed last weeks 2-shadow event because of rain.

The good news is that there is also a 2-shadow event next Friday (16/6) but at aprox 11pm.
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  #44  
Old 09-06-2017, 09:43 PM
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I had a reasonable view of the two moon shadows transiting Jupiter this evening. As you say Europa's shadow is quite small, but it was clearly visible this evening despite the less than perfect seeing. I was only able to view from about 9.20, so missed the two moons' transit exits. Actually, Io and Europa formed a nice close pair this evening and you could see the relative motion between the two over time.
I commented that I thought the seeing was less than perfect. Interestingly, after Jupiter I took a look at Antares. The companion poped out in full view quite easily at 160x. Perhaps the seeing was okay after all.
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  #45  
Old 09-06-2017, 11:18 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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Would've loved to have watched and got some avis' of the double transit tonight but all I could see were the bottom of raindrops falling into my eyes. Last Fridays double was also clouded out but I live in hope as there is another double transit next Friday, the 16th. Surely the law of averages deem that 1 out of 3 can be seen this month.
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  #46  
Old 16-06-2017, 06:33 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky View Post
Actually, Io and Europa formed a nice close pair this evening and you could see the relative motion between the two over time.
.
It is actually like that right now,as I type. Both Io and Europa are close to Jupiter's disc and there is a real sense of motion as they head to commencing transits within about 4 minutes of each other at 8.15 ish tonight.
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  #47  
Old 16-06-2017, 07:37 PM
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Transits are now underway, but aprox 15 minutes after commencing, I can still see the white little discs of Europa and Io in front of Jupiter. Io is the more easily seen, its brighter, started later and also is in front of one of bands.

Both Moon's shadows appear on Jupiter tonight. Ios from about 9.30pm and Europa's from about 10.45. Both are on Jupiter from then to when Io's shadow leaves Jupiter from about 11.40.

Also worth seeing is when the Moons finish their transits within about 15 mins of each other from about 10.30.

Hope the weather holds. Last week I tried to see this, but the seeing was so bad that I could only pick out Io's shadow.
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  #48  
Old 16-06-2017, 10:05 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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Missed out on this double transit ( again ) due to wall to wall cloud. Three Friday nights , 3 double transits , 3 cloudy and / or rainy Fridays. Actually had a sucker hole about 8:00 pm and could see the 2 moons near Jupiters disc but the view didn't last long as the clouds thickened again. I think that tonights transits were the last in the series in prime time for the east coast but will check Astronomy 2017 to, hopefully, have another chance.
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  #49  
Old 17-06-2017, 08:22 AM
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Clouded out here too Jeff. Hard luck missing all three. I managed one out of three.

Enjoyed your report Bob. Did the weather hold for you so you could see all of the events?
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Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob View Post
Transits are now underway, but aprox 15 minutes after commencing, I can still see the white little discs of Europa and Io in front of Jupiter. Io is the more easily seen, its brighter, started later and also is in front of one of bands.

Both Moon's shadows appear on Jupiter tonight. Ios from about 9.30pm and Europa's from about 10.45. Both are on Jupiter from then to when Io's shadow leaves Jupiter from about 11.40.

Also worth seeing is when the Moons finish their transits within about 15 mins of each other from about 10.30.

Hope the weather holds. Last week I tried to see this, but the seeing was so bad that I could only pick out Io's shadow.
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  #50  
Old 17-06-2017, 04:25 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Tonight, I will content myself just going for Jupiter's red spot and the comet with a smaller scope. (Vixen 80mm, Achromatic, F11.4)

Weather looks dicey, but it looked a lot worse this time yesterday.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinderboxsky View Post
Clouded out here too Jeff. Hard luck missing all three. I managed one out of three.

Enjoyed your report Bob. Did the weather hold for you so you could see all of the events?
Unfortunately not Steve, clouds started appearing and by the time Europa was due to throw its shadow on the surface, I could see little. Occasionally, it thinned enough to show the two Moons near the planet after they had reappeared, but never enough to see even Io's shadow.
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  #51  
Old 25-06-2017, 01:18 PM
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Europea reappears briefly

I will check out a rather odd occurrence with Europa tonight. It reappears after being occulted and then disappears into eclipse only few minutes later.

I will try to watch from around 7.50 (weather permitting).
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  #52  
Old 25-06-2017, 04:04 PM
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Yes, I am keen to observe this event too. Weather is not looking promising.

An identical event occurs Sunday evening 2nd July.

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Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob View Post
I will check out a rather odd occurrence with Europa tonight. It reappears after being occulted and then disappears into eclipse only few minutes later.

I will try to watch from around 7.50 (weather permitting).
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  #53  
Old 25-06-2017, 08:19 PM
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I managed this rather interesting event this evening. The bright dot against Jupiter’s limb could be seen to gradually brighten and eventually clear separation was seen. I judge the separation to be no more than 2”. Not long after this separation was seen (no more than a minute or so - I was not noting times), there was a rapid decline in Europa’s brightness and then the complete eclipse disappearance.

The concurrent Io shadow transit was visible, but I could not see Ganymede which was also transiting.

I was very fortunate with the weather. There had been scudding showers all afternoon and evening with tempting gaps of clear sky. Ever hopeful, I set my scope up on a tripod under the shelter of a veranda rather than on the exposed fixed pier. As it turned out, the last band of showers passed over at about 7.45 leaving a clear sky with good seeing and transparency.

Scope Vixen NA140SS on TRex mount and LVW5 giving 160X.

Last edited by Tinderboxsky; 26-06-2017 at 06:18 AM.
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  #54  
Old 02-07-2017, 08:32 AM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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There are further events with Jupiter and its Moons tonight.

Shortly after 10.20pm, Europa will reappear after it occultation and then will disappear into shadow 5 minutes later. I observed this last week and it was per Steve's excellent description.

One bonus last week was earlier in the evening, there was the sight of Jupiter looking like it had pearl earrings! Io was had just reappeared from transit and Ganymede was about to commence transit. So the disc of Jupiter was flanked with by moons being extremely close to the disc on both sides. Indeed, it was an interesting spectacle.

I will also attempt to look at around 7.50 when Europa is about to be occulted and Io's shadow may be visible on the limb of Jupiter.
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  #55  
Old 02-07-2017, 11:33 AM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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Will be watching tonights Jupiter moondance with interest and hopefully clear skies of the past few days prevail so that , maybe get some images as well. The Red Spot also crosses the meridian at 18:08 pm EST , hopefully the jetstream be co-operative as well.
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  #56  
Old 11-08-2021, 12:39 PM
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R S Ophiuchus

With the exciting news that the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchus is now visible, I can hardly wait for tonight.

I used to monitor this frequently in the early 2000s, but completely missed the February 2005 explosion, as it was in the middle of our tropical wet season. Unfortunately, I did not even know of the event till several months later.

I have only last year started re-monitoring it, as I thought it was due again. I looked several times during the last month, but there has been too much cloud in the evening for viewing during the last few evenings. Damn. I am hoping for better weather tonight.
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  #57  
Old 11-08-2021, 02:39 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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On the subject of variable stars, I noticed last night that Mira in Cetus seemed quite bright, didn't do a thorough comparison with nearby stars but at a rough estimation, about the 2.5 / 3.0 magnitude.
Will have to have search for RS Oph. tonight, just for interests sake.
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  #58  
Old 11-08-2021, 07:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saturnine View Post
On the subject of variable stars, I noticed last night that Mira in Cetus seemed quite bright, didn't do a thorough comparison with nearby stars but at a rough estimation, about the 2.5 / 3.0 magnitude.
Will have to have search for RS Oph. tonight, just for interests sake.
I noticed that this morning around 5am. I have rarely seen it that bright before. Then, I went back to bed and forgot about it!
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  #59  
Old 11-08-2021, 07:51 PM
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RS Ophiuchus photo.

This image of RS Ophiuchus is taken through my Orion 80mm triplet at prime focus tonight about 8.10pm.

This is with a Cannon M50 camera, 8secs, 3200 ASA. (EQ5 mount)

RS Ophiuchus is marked and is in the central area. It is the brightest star in that region. (Please expand the image, there really are stars there.)
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  #60  
Old 12-08-2021, 07:01 AM
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Thanks for sharing Bob. I hope it does not fade before the clouds clear for me to take a look.
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