Imaged Jupiter this morning in quite reasonable seeing and have resolved a considerable amount of detail.
There is a line up of 5 small white ovals seen in the STrB. I note a well resolved but diffuse feature in the centre of the STrZ that is best seen in the 685nm IR data, particularly in that animation. This data should also line up with Glenn Orton's JPL NIR run with the IRTF Jan 2-3, 11:00 -19:00 UTC.
Lovely work Trevor, in particular the animation is excellent.
I haven’t imaged (or looked at!) Jupiter for quite a while and notice that the GRS appears more saturated and a deeper tone than from when I last looked.
Thanks Phil, traditionally the best seeing out here for Saturn has been from Feb through to April but my best data I have ever captured was for Jupiter in Nov 2010. On one of Bird’s visits he brought with him his raw data of Jupiter from Exmouth in perfect seeing 10/10. I had previously rated the seeing for my Nov 2010 data at 8/10. The rating of the seeing should be absolute and not just relative to conditions at any particular site, but after having the opportunity to do a direct side by side comparison with 10/10 data I reassessed my best data as being 9/10. I should add also that I have previously gone on record as rating the image produced from Bird’s Exmouth data as the best Jupiter I had seen taken from Earth, a comment that roused considerable interest at the time but one which I standby. It is easy to over rate the seeing, particularly after a run of ordinary conditions. I am in the habit of referring to work from Bird & Damian when I rate the seeing. I am often intrigued when an imager rates the seeing for a very good image as poor, I guess you have noticed this in another group we are members of, reckon some people are miracle workers or have just never had to deal with poor seeing from their sites.
Thanks Maurice, the STrZ feature has been there for a while and although it can be faintly seen in visible light, is better defined in IR. Not long now until JUNO arrives at Jupiter and I am sure we will learn much more about just how dynamic the atmosphere is.
Thanks Dennis, yes the character of the GRS has certainly changed from last apparition. It is redder and as you note, appears to be more saturated.
