jupiter question

[ving (David)]

might give it a go tonight if the clouds disappear

[astro_south (Andrew)]

In a thread "Fifth Jovian Moon" on on "Starrynights" Yahoo group they have identified the star as TYC 04963-0355-1 at mag 9.8.
This star is also known as BD -04 03421 and PPM 196171 - depending on what catalog you are playing along with at home

[ving (David)]

well its clouds clouds everywhere and not a planet to be seen. but it seems t have been cleared up anyhow.

but my question now is how the hell did the 5th moon get discovered in 1905 with what MUST have been far inferior gear?

[astro_south (Andrew)]

I haven't double checked this - first one I came to.....

(from http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Jup...iterMoons.html )
"Amalthea was the last moon to be discovered by direct visual observation — as opposed to photography — when it was spotted in 1892 by Edward Emerson Barnard using the 36 inch telescope at Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton in California."

Amalthea was the next moon discovered (ie No. V) after the Gallilean moons. Not sure of the quality of the optics, but my guess is most amateurs around here would swap their gear in a second for a bite of that cherry

[ving (David)]

I think maybe i underestimated the quility and size of the optics back then

sorry edward barnard

[MiG]

Lenses and mirrors haven't been advancing much. There's nothing high tech about the average telescope or camera lens. Thin film coatings and image stabilisation would probably be the biggest advances in the past few decades. I don't think exotic glasses are significant enough for us to look at old equipment and think "how did they survive".
A good camera lens from 50 years ago is still pretty damn good. Even more so with telescopes.