Date and time that Io is eclipsed by Jupiter

[RugbyRene (Rene)]

Hi all,

I would like to observe when Io is eclipsed by Jupiter and I am trying to find a resource that calculates when that happens. I thought it would be easy to find something that would list the dates and times in a table or a piece of software that would allow me to input my location and the range of dates and spit something out, but I can't seem to find it.

I have Stellarium and there a few websites that will calculate for a specific date but nothing that will calculate the dates and times for say the next 12 mths.

Does anyone know if there is a software package or website that does this?

Rene

[JA]

Originally Posted by RugbyRene

Hi all,

I would like to observe when Io is eclipsed by Jupiter and I am trying to find a resource that calculates when that happens. I thought it would be easy to find something that would list the dates and times in a table or a piece of software that would allow me to input my location and the range of dates and spit something out, but I can't seem to find it.

I have Stellarium and there a few websites that will calculate for a specific date but nothing that will calculate the dates and times for say the next 12 mths.

Does anyone know if there is a software package or website that does this?

Rene

Hi Rene,

You already have the solution: Stellarium.

All you need to do is use/become familiar with Date/Time feature and increment the MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE or SECOND value using the up/down arrows on that window on the Stellarium Screen (see screenshot attached). You can also use the Fast Forward, Play, Stop and Rewind/reverse time features and fast forward time from the current date, but that will be far too slow for travelling through 12 months. Just select and center Jupiter as the target and then simply note the date/time of occultation or transit or whatever event you're seeking and keep going (running the time forward) with the DAY, HOUR, MINUTE etc... or until you get all the events you want for the next 12 months.

Make sure your location is set accurately so that the event time is accurate for you and/or allow yourself some time leeway if it's an important/rare event that you want to setup for. It also helps to frame the Stellarium view to match your telescope/camera and ensure the tracking is set to match the tracking you use: Equatorial or Alt-Azimuth so that you see what to expect with the image orientation.

Have Fun and post your video/pics if that's what you're doing with it.

Best
JA

[Tulloch (Andrew)]

Here's what you are after.
https://doncarona.tamu.edu/apps/jupiter/

It also does the same for Saturn!
https://doncarona.tamu.edu/apps/saturn/

[alw50 (Andrew)]

I answered this question by looking at the tables on page 123 of the excellent Australian publication "Astronomy 2024".

This shows the next Io eclipse as a disappearance at 0503 AEST next Wednesday 11th September. There will be another one at 0126 on the 20th September. There will be an eclipse of Europa at 0249 (a reappearance) on the 14th. All times AEST.

If you want to make a night of it on the 11th, there is a reappearance from occultation of Ganymede at 0202.

This Yearbook is brilliant for this sort of thing. It has six pages of Jupiter moon events for the entire year, as well as interesting background information.

It also has tables of lunar occultations. From those tables, I've noticed that (in Adelaide) there is an occultation of Antares by the moon just before midnight next Tuesday the 10th. Unfortunately it is rather low in the sky (9° altitude for the disappearance, 5° for the reappearance a few minutes later), but nonetheless if the weather is good I'll make the short drive to the coast with binoculars to have a look. This actually is a grazing occultation about 200 km east of Adelaide, but so low in the sky that it's not worth the long drive.

Here is a reference for this publication:
https://quasarastronomy.com.au/astronomy-yearbooks/
The 2025 edition should be available around the end of October.
It is a first-rate Australian publication well worthy of support.

Regards, Andrew

[RugbyRene (Rene)]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions. Stellarium is useful but it looks like it limits the number of rows it returns. For example, if I select a full calendar year, it returns only a select number of rows of data and omits others. So, it won't give a full year. It returns about 70-80 rows. I need it to return a full years data. even doing a month-by-month search limits the amount of data it returns. Any idea how to force Stellarium to return all data rows?