Posts Made By: Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Jupiter on May 31, 2004 at 00:30 U.T. under average seeing conditions (5-6/10). The North Equatorial Belt (NEB) appeared very complex and the North Polar Region (NPR) mottled. I hope that you enjoy the observation. I welcome any comments.

Date (U.T.): May 31, 2004
Time (U.T.): 00:30
L1 013.7, L2 294.3, L3 244.5
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 258x
Filters: None (IL)
Seeing (1-10): 5-6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 3

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.
South South Temperate Zone (SSTZ): Appears thin and shaded (6/10).
South South Temperate Belt (SSTB): Appears thin and dusky (4/10).
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appears thin and bright (7/10).
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appears dusky (4/10) with a dark (3/10) condensation preceding the CM. Three bright (7/10) ovals are noted within the STB preceding and following the CM.
South Tropical Zone (STrZ): Appears bright (7/10) without and other detail noted within.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a thin, bright (7/10) undulating zone over it's center.
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appears bright (7/10) with dusky to dull (4-5/10) projections extending from festoons.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appears complex with dark to dusky (3-4/10) sections. A thin, dusky (4/10) band is visible adjacent to the northern border that apparently connects to a dark (3/10) projection along the NEB-N towards the following limb.
North Tropical Zone (NTrZ): Appears bright (7/10) without any other detail noted within.
North Temperate Belt (NTB): Appears thin and dusky (4/10).
North Temperate Zone (NTZ): Appears bright (7/10) and thin.
North Polar Region (NPR): Appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.

The best of luck in your own observations of Jupiter.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Jupiter on June 14, 2004 at 01:45 U.T. under hazy conditions. I welcome any comments on my observation.

Date (U.T.): June 14, 2004
Time (U.T.): 01:45
L1 107.5, L2 280.9, L3 235.0
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 194x
Filters: None
Seeing (1-10): 4-5, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 1-2 (haze)

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appears dark to dull (3-4/10) and mottled.
South South Temperate Zone (SSTZ): Appears shaded (6/10) and thin.
South South Temperate Belt (SSTB): Appears dusky to dull (4-5/10) and thin.
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appears bright (7/10) and thin.
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) and broad.
South Tropical Zone (STrZ): Appears bright (7/10), but no other detail noted within it.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appears dark to dull (3-5/10) with a bright (7/10), thin undulating band bisecting it.
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appears bright with dull (5/10) projections from NEB-S festoons forming a band across it's center.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appears dark to dull (3-5/10) with dark (3/10) festoons along it's southern border (NEB-S).
North Tropical Zone (NTrZ): Appears bright (7/10) with no other detail visible within it.
North North Temperate Belt (NNTB): Appears dusky (4/10) and broad.
North North Temperate Zone (NNTZ): Appears shaded (6/10) and thin.
North polar region (NPR): Appears dark to dusky (3-5/10) and mottled.

Io (I) appears over the following side of the planet.

The best of luck in your own observations of Jupiter.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez

I was able to observe Uranus on June 20, 2004 at 06:30 U.T. through my 9-inch F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain. I believe that I noted faint albedo markings over the disk as well as a bright area. Limb darkening was noted as well. I welcome any comments that you my have on this observation.

The best of luck in your own observations.

Carlos

I made an observation of Uranus on June 24, 2004 at 07:45 U.T. under good seeing conditions (6-7/10 with moments of 8/10). I noted a dusky (4/10) streak over the southern portion of the disk with a dull (5/10) streak perpendicular to it over the center. Bright (7/10) areas were noted over the disk as well. I welcome any comments on this observation.

The best of luck in your own observations and imaging of the planets.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Neptune on June 24, 2004 at 07:15 U.T. under good (6-8/10) seeing conditions. I did not note any detail over the small disk of the planet but limb darkening was visible. I welcome any comments on this observation.

The best of luck in your own imaging and observations of the planets.

Regards,
Carlos

I made an observation of Uranus on July 5, 2004 at 06:45 U.T. under average seeing conditions (5-6/10). The disk of the planet presented a more typical homogenous greenish-blue disk with no detail other a possible brightening (minimal) over certain regions (most likely contrast variations). I welcome any comments on this observation.

The best of luck in your own imaging and observations of the planets.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Uranus on July 13, 2004 at 05:00 U.T. (CM 252.9) under good seeing conditions (6-7/10). I believe that, under steady seeing conditions, I noted a very faint equatorial belt (or band) as well as bright northern and southern polar regions. This faint band was most probably a contrast effect between the two bright regions of the planet. I noted no other detail at this time. I welcome any comments on this observation.

The best of luck in your own imaging and observations of the planets.

Regards,
Carlos

I made an observation of Uranus on July 24, 2004 at 06:00 U.T. (CM 119.0). I noted a faint, dark and diffuse albedo feature over the center of the disk nearly parallel to the equator. The north and south poles of Uranus are noted ((N) and (S), respectively). The arrow at the approximately 06:30 o'clock position indicates the direction of rotation of the globe of Uranus. I welcome any comments on my observation.

The best of luck imaging and observing the planets.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Neptune on July 24, 2004 at 05:00 U.T.. I did not note any detail over the disk of Neptune. The arrow at the 10 o'clock position is the direction of rotation of the planet. I welcome any comments on my observaton.

The best of luck in your own observations and imaging of the planets.

Carlos

The period of July 16-22, 1994 was a very exciting one for all that witnessed the planet Jupiter's southern hemisphere barraged by fragments of a ruptured comet. It began for me, and a few other fortunate friends including Jeff Beish and Don Parker, with the impact of the first fragment (A or 21) on July 16, 194 (20:11 U.T.). Ironically I had lectured a few months earlier, as was believed at the time, that little was to be observed from the impacts of the fragments of S-L 9 except for possibly a small faint bright cloud visible only in large instruments (>12 inches aperture). How wrong I was! The impact of the first fragment (A or 21) started a show that was witnessed by many observers around the world (and in space, the HST) for a period of six days. Here are some of my observations of this incredible event.

The sectional observation of Jupiter's southern hemisphere on top was made on July 19, 1994 at 01:25 U.T. (L1 080.6. L2 139.4, L3 210.0) using a 16-inch F/6.9 Newtonian at 360x (S: 8/10, T: 5/9). The S-L 9 impact sites (number designation; date and time of impact) observed, from preceding to following (or left to right), are E (17; July 17, 1994 at 15:11 U.T.), A (21; July 16, 1994 at 20:11 U.T.), and C (19: July 17, 1994 at 07:12 U.T.). The E impact site is visible on the preceding limb with it's dusky ejecta towards the southeast. The A impact site is now beginning to lighten in intensity and become more diffuse after it's initial impact three days earlier. The C impact site is visible just following the CM as a dark nodule surrounded by a dusky elongated fan-shaped ejecta towards the south. The South South Temperate Belt (SSTB) is visibly deviated towards the south preceding the CM. Two large bright ovals are visible within the South Temperate Belt (STB) following the CM.

The middle observation was made on July 31, 1994 at 00:20 U.T. (L1 134.0, L2 101.6. and L3 175.4) using a 16-inch F/6.9 Newtonian at 382x (S: 7-8/10, T: 6/6). The impact site of H ( 14: July 18, 1994 at 19:31:59 U.T.) is visible as a dark nodule with a dusky collar on the preceding limb. The E impact site is now visible as an elongated dark albedo feature with dark projections along it's preceding and following borders (it's ejecta is now elongated and curved to the south as well). The A impact site has now developed into a diffuse dark area with two small, bright ovals within it. The C impact site is now visible as a dull, elongated albedo feature towards the following limb.

The bottom observation was made on August 31, 1994 at 00:45 U.T. (L1 358.2, L2 089.1, and L3 171.4) using an 8-inch F/7.5 Newtonian at 213x and 285x (S: 5/10 (periods of 7), T: 5/6). The E impact site is now visible as a dark, curvilinear streak with a dusky diffuse column extending south from it's southern border. A large bright oval appears to the north of the E impact site within the South Temperate Zone (STZ) enclosed by dusky material. The preceding half of the K (12; July 19, 1994 at 10:24:14 U.T.) impact site is visible on the following limb as a dark condensation with a southern projection. Impact sites A and C are no longer visible.

I hope to describe more S-L 9 observations soon. I hope that you enjoy this flashback.

Regards,
Carlos E. Hernandez