Jupiter

[Moonman (Michael)]

Dear all

Managed to get some reasonble views of Jupiter with good magnifcation using my saxon 740mm with a barlow magnifier. I struggled for some time now to get anything other than a massive blur usi ng the barlow but a bit of patience paid off.
The resolution was still slightly blurry compared with low magnification but I could still make out the major cloud bands.

Calibrating the finder lense during daytime using some chimney stacks about a km away improved my ability to quickly find and maintain the desired target

Regards Moonman

[iceman (Mike)]

wd moonman, jupiter is truly magnificent when the seeing is stable.

Patience is definitely needed, and if the seeing is bad, don't get discouraged. Just try again another night, or perhaps early in the morning, around 2 or 3am when the air is calm.

With practise, you'll easily see the 2 main EQ bands, and with more practise and steady seeing, you'll see the polar bands and GRS too.

Aligning the finder during the daytime is very sound advice!

[ving (David)]

well done moonman. its good to push the limits of seeing and the scope at times hey!

[Moonman (Michael)]

Sorry guys thats a 74mm (thereabouts) not 740.

Thanks for the tips

Regards

Moonman

[toetoe (Peter)]

G`day Moonman,
A few nights ago i managed to get a gander at two bands on the mighty planet. I have been scoping around for about 4 - 5 weeks now with my little toy, it has taken me this long to work out the viewing side of things, and still learning and will do so until the end of time.

[Moonman (Michael)]

Yes, sometimes you wonder whether its more sensible to just sit on a comfy couch with a cup of tea and the latest edition of sky and space than to fiddle about with such equipment etc. But I must admit it's a learning and growing experience just to fiddle about and get a few results and start to see these things for yourself.

Perhaps we should start a philosophical thread.

Regards
Moonman

[toetoe (Peter)]

I am finding a bit hard to sit on the couch now that i have this bug. I need a great big sky light in the lounge, wouldn`t that be great.

[rumples riot]

Well done Moonman, always good to have a look at Jupiter, one of my favourite targets in the last three months.