Some interesting Jupiter moon/shadow transits

Hi,
There appears to be some interesting Jupiter moon/shadow transits coming up which might be of interest to some, one in particular is happening this Saturday morning, this is worth having a look for if the weather is clear and you're up.

Here is a quick rundown of whats happening on the early hours... (times are approximate)
Callisto's shadow starts to cross Jupiters disk at 03.10am
Io's shadow begins to transit at 4.32
Io itself begins to transit at 4.53
Io's and Callisto's shadow merge and pass each other out at 5.48 while Io is still transiting
Io passes over Callisto's shadow at 6.19 while Callisto begins to transit Jupiters disk
Europa's shadow begins to transit at 6.26

So by 6.30, you have Io's, Europa's and Callisto's shadow on the disk of Jupiter along with Callisto and Io.

Europa ventures onto the disk of Jupiter by 7.08 but by now Io's shadow will have finished transiting, the sky will be brightening by then, but if you can still see it you see 3 moons and 2 shadows on the face of Jupiter at the one time, something I have to say I've never seen through a scope before.. so lets hope for clear skies.

How did you get on, Dave? I had too much of a tickly cough to venture out.

While I was coughing my head off at 3.30 am, I looked out the rear bedroom window, and I could see Jupiter shining brightly in the western sky. I trust you saw the transits!
I did see the last triple shadow transit in October 2013 -it was most excellent!

Please do tell us what scope and what magnification you used.

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey,
That's a shame about your cough, on a number of occasions I've gone out observing with a cold/flu and the next day its like I've been hit in the head with a hammer.
This is an event I wont forget for a while, especially since the next such event is going to be in 2032, 17 years from now. I have an observatory in the back garden and its a huge help with such an event given the weather, I had to close the dome a few times as the rain came in. The main advantage is that when the rain is gone, all I do is open the hatch and there in the planet in the scopes fov..

I use a 12" Meade LX200 in the dome, I have a binoviewer with a built-in 1.5x barlow, I used regular Meade series 4000 eyepieces, a 26mm, 15mm and a 9.7mm plossel, the nagler wide FOVs are not an advantage on Jupiter with this scope so they stayed in their box.
The 26mm+binoviewer gives a power of 173x
the 15mm+binoviewer gives a power of 300x
the 9.7mm+binoviewer gives a power of 463x
the 15mm gave the most pleasing view, the belts/zones and festoon were visible (at times) as was the GRS earlier that night, although the seeing was quiet bad at times, the moons themselves were hard to see while on the planets disk but the shadows were very visible, this is where 2 eyes are better then one, extended viewing with 2 eyes while sitting on a chair really adds to the comfort factor

I did try some imaging earlier on in the night, but the seeing was against me, so I abandoned it and just took in the view.
for more on the event, see
www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/dont-m...ers-shadow-trifecta/

Excellent report, Dave. Welcome to triple shadow transit club !! I am so glad you did see this extraordinary event and the GRS thrown in for good measure too.

Last night (Saturday -Sunday), I had my 1st good night sleep for a full week -so I shall be ready for action again this week. Those binoviewers come in very handy for special occasions such as this. Perfect to use 300X as well.

Did anyone else observe Jupiter on Saturday morning? Or was Dave the only one?

Great you have a dome, Dave.

Aubrey.

Yes I was out at 5.30 Aubrey, to be greeted by mediocre skies. I did have intermittent views of all 3 shadows through the 8" SCT but not simultaneously during that 25-minute window.

Still a worthwhile morning though, particularly Callisto's shadow looking like a bullet-hole on the Jovian globe.

Finbarr.

I am glad you did see all 3 shadows -though not all at the same time Finbarr. You are very gracious in accepting this. I wish I had your patience.

I was truly blessed to observe all shadow transits on the 10th October 2013 -again in the early hours of that Saturday morning. Funny that two such occurrences can happen in a reasonably short period of time (less than a year and a half). Now we have to wait until the year 2032 for the next one!

Aubrey.