Jupiter last night

[rogerg]

I was doing some testing of my scope's new electronics last night and popped my Meade 26mm (standard Plossl 4000) in the draw tube to see what Jupiter would look like.

The viewing was pretty ordinary. Quite a lot of turbulence and a diffuse fog or cloud of some sort, and smoke from neighbouring fires.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results however, being so rare that I do visual work on my scope. I could clearly see tufts of detail, swirls of cloud etc, within the bands of Jupiter. I could see some kind of round storm but I'm not sure if it was the big red spot or not. Quite a lot of detail really. I was quite surprised. It was coming and going a bit, but many moments of nice detail.

Probably would have been better with a more suitable eyepiece, still have my eye on something like a 8mm Meade 5000 UWA.

Jupiter was very bright and I found that was inhibiting my ability to see finer detail on its surface. What filter would people recommend to decrease the brightness and increase the contrast of Jupiter? Just a neutral density?

Thanks,
Roger.

[Kal]

There is a good write up of filters here (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/guides/filters.asp) that you may want to read. There is a chart at the bottom showing which filters are best for which details on different objects, including Joop.

[rogerg]

I suppose for one reason or another I've never been a fan of coloured filters.. I've tried a few in the past without success, so was hoping some of the newer cut filters might keep the colour balance but improve the contrast and decrease the brightness.... asking too much? :)

[rapidfire]

gee that is a really great write up isnt it. cheers for pointing that out.

marc.

[Blue Skies]

They're called Neutral Density filters and they are being commonly sold as moon filters at the moment. (no, not those horrible old green ones...) I have a 0.9 and a 0.6 ND filters and find that the 0.9ND is usually the better. I'll drop you a note about borrowing them, Roger.