Magnificant Jupiter

Hello all observers. I was using the 158mm apo last night Friday 13th March for over 3 hours.
Among other great spectacles, Valerie and I saw the 2 extra stars in the Orion Nebula; making it 6 stars in the Trapezium at 167X.
We observed 3 carbon stars, R Leporis at mag 6.3, W Orionis at 6.4 and X Cancri near Jupiter at 6.2 mag.
Before heading to Jupiter, we observed NGC 2392 the Eskimo Nebula all the way up to 374X. Its central star was lovely and bright and the gas cloud was very distinctive.

But what was happening at Jupiter after 22.30 stole the show completely. For most of the night, only 2 moons (Europa and Callisto) were visible. Then suddenly at 22.45, Ganymede came out from behind the huge shadow of Jupiter. What was extraordinary was it took Ganymede a full 3 minutes to reach its normal magnitude of 5.0! Then at 23.02, Io repeated the exercise. It took 2 minutes to reach its normal magnitude. I have seen this in the past; but only with 1 satellite at a time. Never 2 in quick succession!

Was anyone else taking advantage of the clear skies? It shows Friday the 13th can be brilliant for some amateur astronomers.

Thanks for reading and clear skies to all.

Aubrey.

Aubrey,

Yes I also observed Io coming out of shadow. Actually I wanted to record it to get some photometery data but ended up watching through the eyepiece.
Did you notice any extra brightening after it emerged from shadow? It has been seen to do this before but the reason is not known. Possibly something to do with frost forming in the atmosphere.

Seeing conditions were excellent. Jupiter looked amazing through the C11. After that I went on a deep sky tour. M81 + 82, M97+108, M51, M101, M67, then globulars M3,5 & 13. All looked great. (lucky I was in a dark location. I could see a mag6 star overhead by naked eye)
Saturn rose about 2am and got a quick look before bed. Long night but one of the best nights in a long time.

Pretty good for Friday the 13th.
Derek

Gosh, Derek. That is a great list of observations.

Regarding Io, it did take from 23.02 until 23.04 to reach maximum magnitude -about 2 minutes. It is normally +5.5 magnitude, and it take a much shorter time to reach its max than Ganymede. I'm sorry you missed Ganymede about 15 minutes earlier coming out from behind Jupiter. But both events time wise were stunning so close together. After Io had reached 5.5, I didn't notice any change in its magnitude. Unfortunately an east wind blew in thick clouds off the Irish Sea. They covered much of the sky. I am still talking about what I saw to some non astronomical friends.

Saturn is the only planet I have not observed in 2015. I shall wait until the summer.

Aubrey.

I was up a bit later than you Aubrey and saw Saturn - and Titan, Rhea, Dione and Iapetus :laugh: They were the highlights of a fabulous night which included M61, M101, mighty M87, the elusive far-south M83... not forgetting your blood-red X Cancri. And then around 3am the herald of balmy summer nights - Antares. Terrific viewing.

Well done guys, a great list of observations, especially given the weather.

Wow, Fermidox! Even little Iapetus! I am still on for the opportunity to split Antares -perhaps this summer.

I am also glad I am not the only one checking X Cancri as Jupiter closes in on him in few weeks.

Sorry it has been cloudy in Limerick, Dave. We have no clear skies in Dublin either on both Saturday and today Sunday.

Aubrey.