Anyone seen Jupiter Last night (27/11/11)

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Yestoday (27/11/11) at around 10:40 - 11 p.m., i saw Jupiter for the first time under near perfect seeing conditions. the atmosphere was so still that turbulance only began to show under 500x magnification, and even this turbulence was very mild (barley enough to affect the image). The image was so clear at 250 - 332x that the great red spot was actually a disk instead of a red blob, more cloud belts were visible and I lost count of how many rills and festoons were on the planet. i also managed to spot 2 other storms on the planet (above the great red spot)

if anyone has anything to share about jupiter yestoday night, i would be more than happy to hear (or any other night)

Bintel BT302 12" Dobsonian
Bintel 26mm widefield
Plossl 15mm
Plossl 9mm
Orion edge on 6mm
Televue 2x barlow

[JuniorAstro (Jason)]

Sounds amazing Ibrahim, I was obsing Jupiter last night aswell, amazing sky here in Brisbane, managed to get a great view of its moons aswell. I've been focusing on Europa the past few nights, pitty the sky looks quite cloudy tonight

[mishku]

Hi Ibrahim,

A whole host of us were out last night in Snake Valley (before the clouds rolled in) and were able to have a bit of a look - perhaps head to the Snake Valley Reports thread for some more info on what people have seen?

Mish

[Riley86 (Adam)]

Yeah I was out in Sydney last night best few ive seen of it yet, noticed a black blob 3/4 up towards the left which was reversed image (dobsonian), was it a shadow from a moon or a storm?

[Riley86 (Adam)]

Vegeta what eyepiece were you using? Highest I had was 6.5mm would have loved to zoom in closer the conditions were just right

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Yea, I was using my Orion Edge-On planetary 6mm eyepiece. It's fantastic as it really is flat right to the edge of the field of view. it gives 250x in my 12" f/5 dob. When I observed that the image was clear and free of turbulence, i barlowed the eyepiece 2x. the image was still relatively clear (turbulence was quite mild at this magnification). Normally when i observe jupiter, the subtle details and sometimes the major details are simply swamped out by turbulence even at lower powers, but this night was just magic.

[Stu Ward]

I didn't go out last night, and i have been imaging Jupiter too. Looks like i missed a treat

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

You missed it Stu, Jupiter on Sunday night was excellent, best seeing for ages, so busy at the eyepiece enjoying the view that I forgot to get out the webcam. Sat, night was so so, though good for DSO imaging and and last night was rubbish, like looking through a rippling puddle.

Jeff

Originally Posted by Stu Ward

I didn't go out last night, and i have been imaging Jupiter too. Looks like i missed a treat

[steve000 (Steve)]

Vegeta, What does the scouter say about the seeing quality?


hahah im sorry I had to.. yes it was magic sight

[Stu Ward]

I was actually out sun night. So the data I have should be good. I just need to hone my processing skills

[Riley86 (Adam)]

my highest eyepiece is a meade 6.5mm but the seeing was that good i reckon I could have gone closer in without much blurring, do you guys recommend I buy a good 3mm eye piece of just get a barlow x 2 for my 6.5mm? What are the pros and cons are both?

[Stu Ward]

Originally Posted by Riley86

my highest eyepiece is a meade 6.5mm but the seeing was that good i reckon I could have gone closer in without much blurring, do you guys recommend I buy a good 3mm eye piece of just get a barlow x 2 for my 6.5mm? What are the pros and cons are both?

Whilst you may have been able to use the 3mm EP on Sunday night, that might be one of only around 5 nights a year where seeing would be good enough to use it.

Stu

[Riley86 (Adam)]

S whats the lowest eye piece you can get away with frequently is 6.5mm pushing it or it 4 or 5mm usable too? I know its not all about magnification but sometimes you just want to go closer and closer! lol

[Stu Ward]

I reckon you would be hard pushed to use the 6.5 on only the very best of nights.

Usually my lowest regular user is 9mm tmb planetary.

Even then I actually prefer the 13-20mm range

Stu

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Originally Posted by steve000

Vegeta, What does the scouter say about the seeing quality?

Its over 9000!!!

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Saturday was good for DSO and sunday, for planetery. the orion nebula on saturday night (at aroiund 2:00 a.m.) when it was almost at zenith was an unforgettible sight. i managed to spot hints of pink near the core of the nebula, while the rest was green.

I wonder if we'll ever get a night free of turbulence while Venus and mercury are out

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Over here visiting in NZ and saw a stunning image of Jupiter through a 10" Celestron at Pet's place in Geraldine. We were all puzzled by the large black streak on the equatorial cloud belt though ?
Is this a new storm or an impact scar ?

[Riley86 (Adam)]

lol 900000000000!!!!!

[GeoffMc (Geoff)]

I have just observed the dark streak on the northern edge of the NEB. I did a central meridian transit timing of the preceding and centre (cloud prevented a third timing of the following end). Longitude of the feature is roughly 70(I), 113(II) and 75(I), 118(II) for the preceding edge and centre, respectively.

Anyone else see it tonight?