+ Jupiter Sketch +

Seeing conditions also held for Jupiter observing. For this, I used my 9.6" Newt.

Of note is what seems to be the continued darkening of the GRS. Additionally, the attached 2 little dark rift features on its following edge made it look like a bird's head.

There was also an obvious oval in the STB just following the GRS.

Festoons are appearing more subdued recently as compared to the previous months during this apparition, but there are also a lot subtle apparently disconnected features throughout the EZ and Ezn.

The NEB still has a continuous dark rift running through it. It appears to be gradually moving more towards the preceding side in this sketch and has overtaken the GRS.

Lastly, there was a very subtle segment where the NTb used to be just preceding the CM.

I usually use a NEB-1 filter while observing Jupiter that shows an intensely green tinted image. This time I used my new NPC filter recently acquired from Sirius Optics. While taming Jupiter's brightness, it still shows its natural colors though they're a little bit more saturated. I was quite enamoured by that.

Thanks, Sol Robbins

Attached Image:

Sol,


Beautiful drawing. I was out last night at around the same time about 40 miles south of you. With my Tak 152, I saw nothing like the detail you have illustrated. You are very lucky to have found a place in N.J. with such steady air. Are you observing away from homes?


Marc Zukoff

Great sketch Sol and thanks again for resisizing mine sketch.Thanks.

Hi Sol -

Thanks for sharing the excellent drawing and report. I was also out last night with a 6" refractor but did not enjoy such good seeing. I searched hard for the small black mark preceding the GRS but could not see it. The GRS is very interesting now - it seems paler than last apparition, apricot rather than peach in color - but more obvious due to a contrasty band around its perimeter?
I shared the views with my 9 year old daughter who was able to find the red spot easily in a binoviewer at 275X.

clear skies,
Alan

Hi Sol, nice sketch. I couldn't see all of the detail you've shown but could see hints of all the details. I have a 16" f4.5 reflector on an eq platform in S. Louisiana. I used a Pentax 10.5 XL (175x), 5.2 XL (350x), and a Meade UWA 8.8 (200x). The best views were with the Meade. The seeing was good overall all night with short, 2-3 sec intervals of better seeing periodically. 36 degrees and high humidity. I could easily see 6 stars in the Trapezium early (somewhat soft view) and later on (10pm)they were very clear and sharp.

My view was upside down compared to yours. Starting at the the bottom of your sketch, I could see the faint, dark, intermitent line just below the first white band a quarter of the way up the globe. Most of the time it looked like your sketch but periodically it got better with sharper definition. I could not see the detail of the wave-like structure above the lowest dark band. I could see a blue hump coming out of the dark band where your largest wave is but could not see any streaming filaments. I knew they were there because of your earlier sketches but could not see them no matter how much I adjusted the fine focus. The Red spot was clear and when seeing improved I could see detail in the dark band on each side of the red spot.
I could also see the little white spot between the two thin bands 3/4 of the way up the globe. Around 11pm CST (5UT) I noticed a tiny bulge on the edge of the globe in line with one of the light colored bands. I thought maybe I was seeing elevation difference in clouds bands (g). After a few minutes of it not going away and getting bigger I realized it was Io. It separated from the planet fairly quickly. I couldn't tell if it had crossed in front of or behind Jupiter. I seems to have come from behind.

It was a fun night with good views. Thanks for the sketches, they are good guides and have inspired me to look for the details you show and sometimes I can see them.

Lowell

Thanks for showing me what Jupiter really looked like *earlier* in the evening...I was observing at about the same time as this sketch was made, and the seeing was pretty lousy...hours later I checked out Saturn, planning to pack up, and noticed how crisp the crepe ring looked, a rare event for me, so I checked out Jupiter...and I didn't pack up for some time!

Thanks for sending some of your good seeing my way when you were done with it!

Sol,

An outstanding observation of Jupiter showing a wealth of detail. The Great Red Spot (GRS) region is well recorded along with the two following "beaks." The NEB is very complex with many festoons noted along the NEBs. I look forward to your future observations.

Carlos