Well, what a night that was! The invisible column of air towering over my head connecting me to outer space, its base tethered in my back garden, had scant regard for my need to record the scars from the fresh impact site on the gas giant Jupiter. The planetary disc was literally boiling in the jet stream as the Wesley “Bird Strike” came into view at the Jovian limb (west). After a couple of hours, I capitulated; the Jovian disc was washed out, hopelessly smeared by the unstable jet stream howling along some 10-16 kms above, with fine wisps of cloud dimming this incredible sight.
But, a glimmer of light! In the end, I managed to record some 90 minutes of activity through removing my colour CCD camera, replacing it with the more sensitive mono version. In this animation, we can see (in the east) the Great Red Spot, Ganymede “leaving” the face of Jupiter stage right and Europa entering left (west), as it approaches the disc to cast its shadow on Jupiter, with the fresh impact site continuing to march across the lower limb (south).
Takahashi Mewlon 180 F12 with Vixen x2 Barlow and Imaging Source DMK21AF04 CCD camera.
Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
22nd July, 2009.
21:49 to 23:58pm AEST (UT+10)
WARNING: 640KB file
Animation:
90 mins here.
Cheers
Dennis
PS – I was left wondering, how many casual Jovian observers would be able to spot the difference between the shadow cast by one of the Galilean moons and a new impact site?
PPS - Thanks for the uploads Mike, you've been a busy fellow and I appreciate your help!