5 moons of Jupiter?

[Robert Nelson (Robert Nelson)]

Over the last couple of nights I seem to have observed the normal 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter plus a 5th faint moon. It was tracking with Jupiter and kept the same relative position.
Last nigh I watched it for 4 hours as it remained locked with Jupiter and the other moons.

I'm using a Sky Watcher 10 inch Dobsonian with a 25mm Plossl and a x2 Barlow.
Is is posible that I'm really seeing Amalthea? ie is Amalthea resolvable with this gear, or am I being tricked by some other object?

I also asked a friend with a 10 inch go-to tracking telescope to look, and he confirmed the object and confirmed that it seems to be tracking like a moon???

Love to know either way.

Regards
Robert

[iceman (Mike)]

I would've thought it was too faint for a 10" scope. It could be a background star?

[Robert Nelson (Robert Nelson)]

It stayed in the same relative position to Jupiter and the innermost moon for 4 hours of viewing so I don't think it could be a star?
Regards
Robert

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I have seen same object, I believe it is a star. Will check it tonight!

Malcolm

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Hey Rob .

I saw the same thing last night ... the Moons are pretty much in a straight line ( sort of ) with the Planet ... the 4 brighter Moons stick out like the " proverbial " but you can definitely see a " fainter " ( what appears to be ) another Moon... on the left hand side of Jupiter.

I was using my ED102 .... with a " 2 x barlowed " 24mm Tak eyepiece.

The Bands were easily seen last night from my location ... and even a " hint " of the Red Spot using " averted " vision.

Flash

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Robert Nelson

Over the last couple of nights I seem to have observed the normal 4 Galilean moons of Jupiter plus a 5th faint moon. It was tracking with Jupiter and kept the same relative position.
Last nigh I watched it for 4 hours as it remained locked with Jupiter and the other moons.

I'm using a Sky Watcher 10 inch Dobsonian with a 25mm Plossl and a x2 Barlow.
Is is posible that I'm really seeing Amalthea? ie is Amalthea resolvable with this gear, or am I being tricked by some other object?

I also asked a friend with a 10 inch go-to tracking telescope to look, and he confirmed the object and confirmed that it seems to be tracking like a moon???

Love to know either way.

Regards
Robert

Robert, the star you saw was 8.8 magnitude SAO 92690.
All the other moons of Jupiter are all too faint to be seen by most amateur telescopes.
Yes it did stay in close proximity to Jupiter all night.
Cheers

[Robert Nelson (Robert Nelson)]

Thank you

Regards
Robert