Jupier's moons in perfect parabola

[BC]

I had a look at Jupiter last night about 8pm and the 4 moons were in a perfect parabola and quite close to the planet. Did others see this? I tried holding the digital camera to the EP to snap it but it really didn't work. It was a great sight but maybe it's a bit ho-hum telling you about it rather than producing a pic.

Bruce

[iceman]

yeh I had a look, was a nice configuraiton. Callisto was the one closest to Jupiter.

[davidpretorius]

clouds and rain...............but dont worry re camera or image..sometimes you cant capture what beauty the eye sees.

thanks for the report......i can imagine how lovely it looked

[Rob_K]

Yeah Bruce, I saw it a few times between breaks in clouds & it was pretty special! Managed to get a couple of short 5-sec AVIs about 10:30pm, but they were rough - seeing was poor, and the gusty wind was blowing the telescope around (Jupiter was really bouncing around, and it was a miracle Registax tracked it when I was processing). Anyway, I've attached what I did get (not great!) - I brightened the moons a little in Photoshop. They're identified in the file name. The grouping was a bit tighter earlier on, as you observed.

These groupings are well worth watching for. Sky Tonight has a good java script utility that you can use to predict moon events in advance.
http://skytonight.com/observing/objects/planets/3307071.html?page=2&c=y

Cheers -

[erick]

Yes, I was really thrilled when I saw this alignment. I've been away over the weekend, no internet access, and I really wanted to post the observation. Took my 20x80s and tripod with me. I was in Queenscliff which, from a light pollution map, was reported as not too bad. Weather forecast was not good, but when I looked out 11pm Friday night - the sky was full of stars. Found a place behind buildings away from direct street and house lights and had a great few hours. Then, last night, clear patches of sky were seen after about 8pm so, outside again for an hour and a half before it clouded over considerably and kept spitting rain.

Once Jupiter was clear, I said, Wow, lovely arrangement of moons - a gorgeous arc away from the planet. Well done, Rob, for getting an image. I'm glad others saw it as well.

I only had the Jupiter moon chart in my latest Sky and Telescope to work from late last night, but I was able to name them and now agree with the order Rob has given. So no need to fire up the software now!

I was also thrilled with my few hours viewing - not very dark skies, but I kept practicing locating Centaurus A, the Sombrero and tried to find the Leo Triplet. First one obvious, second was "sort-off" with averted imagination and maybe one of the triplet. Also located some other open clusters I've recently learned about through these pages and the magazines, eg 3293. Looking forward to the next opportunity to use the scope.

Also caught the crescent Moon and Venus between clouds last night - lovely. :)

[CoombellKid]

Yes a very nice arangement.

regards,CS

[BC]

I'm glad others saw it, and excellent Rob that you got a pic. As you mention, it was a little tighter earlier on but your pic certainly presents it well. It was a surprise for me to stumble upon it.

[RB]

Yep we had a look at it last night through various scopes at Kulnura.
Viewing Joop through Rod's 20" SDM nearly burnt out my retina.

The moons made a very nice configuration indeed.

:thumbsup: