The Hubble Space Telescope passes in front of the Planet Jupiter

[von Tom]

This morning I managed to catch the HST transit Jupiter. Taken from Nudgee Beach in Brisbane as predicted by CalSky.com and Stellarium.

I didn't actually observe the HST transit when it happened. I was alternating between binoculars and the live view on the camera, so that if it did miss Jupiter, I could see by how far. It was 8 min before sunrise so there was no warning of the HST coming with the naked eye. I recorded 2 min prior and 2 min after the predicted time and by the time I stopped the movie I thought I had missed it entirely. My secondary objective for the morning was to photograph the Moon at 1 day before New but clouds were obscuring.

Dejected, and packing everything up and getting back into the car, I resignedly reviewed the video on the camera and saw, just like you see in the youtube video, the quick flash of the HST. I was delighted and pretty excited, and could freeze the video on the frame where the HST was on the disc. Even now watching the video the sense of anticipation is pretty cool!

Attached is the image, and the equipment I used. I have also reprocessed the image, using more background frames, to lighten the image and bring out Europa and Io, which reflects more what the scene looked like visually.


And here is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tkw8kxn1pQ

Thanks for looking,

Tom

[big_dav_2001]

Great pic there mate!!

Just wondering, what's the margin of error as far as your location goes when taking transit shots like these?? Obviously u'd need to be in a certain spot to get the transit, but how much room do you have to play with, do you have to be within say, 100m of a certain spot or a few K's??

Davin
:cheers:

[von Tom]

Hi Davin, the width of the transit ground track is about 200m.

[Paul Haese]

Now that is a Jovian transit with a difference. Pity the seeing was not kinder to you Tom.

[iceman]

Very cool Tom!

[astroron]

Great Work Tom.

[bahoogas]

This is awesome!

[michaellxv]

Well done Tom, you finally got it.

[mexhunter]

Very well done, Tom, congratulations!

[big_dav_2001]

Knew there'd be a name for it, glad you could interpret what I meant :p, thanks mate

Again, great photo, even more so now I know how precise you have to be.

Davin
:cheers:

[deanm]

Farq! Outstanding!

Dean

[von Tom]

Hi guys - thanks! Video link is now in the first post.

Tom

[multiweb]

Good timing Tom and excellent capture. How do you find / hear about those transits?

[John Hothersall]

That's just amazing, you are a master at this stuff Tom, HST even shows shape to it. What a transit catch!

John.

[Lester]

Top catch Tom, may even be a first for this. Pity the seeing wasn't better for you, but still you did get it. Thanks for the view.

[von Tom]

Thanks Marc, John and Lester :)

Marc I use CalSky and do a search for the next coming weeks of HST and ISS transits of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars, with centrelines occurring within 15-50km of my home in Brisbane. If any are suitable for me to get to and I have the opportunity I will give it a shot.

I have added a pic in the original post of my equipment setup (apart from the 550D with which I took the photo!).

Tom

[multiweb]

I checked your youtube video and all you see is a bright flash on the Jupiter's disc at 7o'clock but it's super fast. What was your frame rate for capture?

[von Tom]

Frame rate was 60 frames/sec. HST appears on 13 frames.

[Forgey]

very cool tom ! nice

[ballaratdragons]

That is dedication!

I applaude you Tom :thumbsup:

[M54]

Wow! That's brilliant Tom. :thumbsup:

[sungrazer]

really enjoyed the youtube video
niceone
K

[Frewi808]

Splendid !!!!!!!!!!

[Matt Wastell]

That is fantastic!

[Miaplacidus]

Magic stuff! Way cool.
:eyepop:

[von Tom]

I didn't actually observe the HST transit when it happened. I was alternating between binoculars and the live view on the camera, so that if it did miss Jupiter, I could see by how far. It was 8 min before sunrise so there was no warning of the HST coming with the naked eye. I recorded 2 min prior and 2 min after the predicted time and by the time I stopped the movie I thought I had missed it entirely. My secondary objective for the morning was to photograph the Moon at 1 day before New but clouds were obscuring.

Dejected, and packing everything up and getting back into the car, I resignedly reviewed the video on the camera and saw, just like you see in the youtube video, the quick flash of the HST. I was delighted and pretty excited, and could freeze the video on the frame where the HST was on the disc. Even now watching the video the sense of anticipation is pretty cool! (I've added this description to the first post)

Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic comments.

Cheers,

Tom

[jjjnettie]

:D that's fantastic Tom!

[SkyViking]

Awesome capture! Congratulations, your dedication certainly pays off.

[sheeny]

Excellent!

Al.

[von Tom]

I've reprocessed the image based on more frames to increase background brightness, which brings out Europa and Io. I think I prefer the first darker image, but this one is more akin to what it would have looked like through the telescope 8 minutes before sunrise. I've added the image to the original post.

Tom

[spacezebra]

Excellent capture Tom! WOW!

Cheers Petra d.

[von Tom]

Thanks everyone. Here's screenshots from the CalSky and Stellarium predictions 1 hour prior to the event. I think they both did pretty well considering the tolerances involved! The ground track screenshot was recorded after I got home after the event. The little house symbol is where I was (which was on the predicted centreline an hour before the event) and the centreline predicted an hour later. To acheive a central disc crossing(!) I would have had to move to the NW.

Tom