[Chaos-l] [Medoc-mountain-men] Jupiter and how

[Tony Garcia]

Awesome Medoc night !!!

My friend Matt and his brother are visiting me from out of town but they
were interested in a short astronomy session so we ended up doing a last
minute trip to Jordan lake last night.   We went to the Ebenezer boat ramp
which is farther away from the city lights than Farrington.

I agree that the sky last night was really incredible!  Unfortunately my
crowd rebelled at moon rise so I didn't get to see Jupiter beyond 9pm, but
even low in the sky we had some great views and before moon rise I was able
to show them some other standard sights.  The transparency was fantastic, I
was so surprised at how well galaxies were viewing (so close to the city) I
was caught somewhat unprepared to galaxy hop.

We ran into another person with a telescope there.  A guy who graduated
from NC State several months ago had a brand new 8" goto Celestron.   He
had just started a new job so bought it for himself as a present.  I got
his email and he is interested in dropping by Medoc sometime.



On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 10:27 AM, Robert Nielsen <robertnielsen at nc.rr.com>wrote:

> Yep ... it was a really good night!   Even if the moon rose early ...
>
> After twilight, and before the moon rose, the skies were very crisp and
> clear.    The forecast I saw for Hollister before I left said the low would
> be around 40 degrees, but as we were leaving I noticed that my dew
> controller said it was 33 (confirmed by my car), so there must have not
> been much moisture in the air at the time ... although some high clouds
> arrived around 11 PM.   If the moon was not going to be present, it would
> have been a great DSO night ... and I would have brought The Mistress.
>  But knowing a large moon was coming, I brought the refractor.
>
> And as Allen said, knowing we were going to basically only view Jupiter
> and the Moon, we setup in the clearing need the picnic pavilion ... very
> close to the fire.   Allen figured out the spot where we would have
> visibility of Polaris (to align) and Jupiter for most of the night ... and
> did a perfect job.  Jason, the professional, built a nice, warm fire.
>
> Since the CSC predictions for last night had gotten better and better as
> the week progressed, and opposition was occurring around that time, I
> thought we might get some nice views of Jupiter.   Wow!  I was right.    As
> Allen said, as Jupiter rose in the sky, the views got better and better.
> I borrowed Allen's 4.7mm Ethos and basically used it the entire night ...
> so I got to see Jupiter at 180X.   We got to see Io disappear and reappear
> in the same evening (Jason mentioned it must be moving quickly ... I agree)
> and the Great Red Spot (GRS ... not GSR :-) at the end.
>
> I enjoyed comparing views.   My refractor has 106mm of aperture, Allen's
> 152mm.   Both are made by the same manufacturer (albeit with different
> designs and materials ... Allen's has a fluorite element) so the
> comparisons were interesting.    It was very clear how the extra aperture
> helps make the view brighter and show more detail ... although the 106mm
> did pretty well.  I think it might have been helped by the "I know it is
> there" effect - I could see things in Allen's scope, then I would go over
> to mine and see them as well, albeit less clearly.   A couple of times I
> started with mine (like when Io emerged from behind Jupiter) to prove to
> myself I could find things first on mine.  And a couple of times, Allen and
> I would describe what we were seeing to each other to compare in real-time.
>   It was a lot of fun.   Ovals and eddies were clear in both.   The GRS had
> detail, with a darker edge and swirls inside.   As the night wore on,
> different details appeared, and the bands s
>  eparated into thinner bands.   As I was driving home, I kept thinking how
> the images in the eyepiece looked like pictures in a book.
>
> I also compared one of my eyepieces with a Powermate barlow against the
> equivalent focal length eyepiece directly.    I don't know whether there is
> something amiss with my barlow, but the differences were stunning.   It is
> definitely worth having the straight eyepiece if you can afford it.  I
> guess that is always the problem, isn't it?  :-)
>
> And Allen and I compared views through an Ethos and a TMB monocentric.
> Allen's turret had some dewing problems, and to resolve those, he heated
> the turret (and eyepieces) in his truck.   When he go it back out, it had
> different problems (like it was too hot) ... so I'm not sure the comparison
> of the views through the turret were fair.  But a straight comparison of
> the 6mm Ethos and the 6mm TMB were very, very comparable, and the Ethos was
> more comfortable.   Same darkness of the background, same detail (to my
> eyes).   Perhaps the image was a *little* brighter in the TMB, but it was
> close.
>
> So in the end, Ethos eyepieces through refractors turned out to be a great
> way to see a wonderfully stable and detailed Jupiter.    Not what people
> normally use to view planets, I guess ... but it certainly worked last
> night!   It was probably the second best view of Jupiter I have seen, only
> worse than that time at MASP when we were using the big Dobs to look at
> Jupiter one night, and Bruno and I saw some detail in Ganymede through his
> scope.   Definitely worth the trip last night, and as always at Medoc,
> comfortable and pleasant by the fire!
>
> Robert
>
> On Dec 2, 2012, at 8:35 AM, "Allen Davis" <starstorm151 at embarqmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Well, Robert, Jason, and I were treated to some really show stopping
> views
> > of Jupiter last night at Medoc.  I arrived first..around 430pm..and
> slowly
> > started setting up.  A good refractor night (as if any night isn't) but
> > since the moon was coming up we knew that the bigger scopes could rest
> and
> > the refractors could shine.
> >
> >
> >
> > Robert arrived just as it was getting dark and I was still making my
> round
> > trips to the trailer.  We decided ahead to set up in the clearing near
> the
> > shelter, since we could stay close to the fire.  Worked out great.
> >
> >
> >
> > After getting set up and lined up, Jupiter was jumping around a bit when
> it
> > was low, but showed promise.  We looked at several deep sky objects
> before
> > la Luna showed her bright face.  M31 looked very nice through Robert's
> wide
> > field 106.  I looked at Caroline's Rose, with the Rose very evident.
> > Obviously not as many stars as in the big scope, but the dark lanes
> showed
> > well.  The Double Cluster nice framed with the Ethos 13.  (Parachute man
> was
> > upside down tonight)  A very nice triple star that was an
> >
> > Obvious H2O molecule in Roberts..in HIS cluster..in the vicinity of the
> > elephant trunk.  M15 was nicely resolved in my scope.proving that a
> really
> > good 6 inch refractor can act like a larger reflector.  Even in Robert's
> > smaller 106, it showed granularity to the core.  What else Robert?
> >
> >
> >
> > We caught Io as it started to hide behind Jupiter and watched it slip
> away.
> > By that time, the seeing was improving, and Jupiter itself was showing
> more
> > detail.
> >
> >
> >
> > We took a fire break and had a snack and some coffee (thanks Robert) and
> > went back.  As Jupiter rose higher and higher with each subsequent
> visit, it
> > was better and better.  We were able to start seeing ovals and festoons
> in
> > the middle belt, and the band between the two darkest started to become
> more
> > obvious as a thin ribbon.  Toward each pole, shading began to resolve
> into
> > numerous thin bands.  We were shooting toward 1100pm when the GRS was
> > supposed to rotate into view.
> >
> >
> >
> > Going up to that, the seeing really steadied and we started seeing ovals
> in
> > the other band.  There was also a dark storm initially near the center of
> > the planet.  Edges of the bands started showing irregularities and ragged
> > edges.
> >
> >
> >
> > We saw the GSR starting to appear as an "absence" of dark banding.  We
> > confirmed that...and within a few minutes of watching I saw dark clouds
> > starting to appear toward the pole adjacent to the GSR.  Also views the
> > "scoop" of clouds around the other side of the GSR.  We decided to take
> one
> > more fire break and take another look...
> >
> >
> >
> > When we returned the GSR fully visible.  Seeing was I would say an 8.5 to
> > 9.0.  Maybe better at times.  GSR completely surrounded on pole side by a
> > wide rages half circle of darker clouds with a good amount of space
> between
> > that circle and the spot itself.  Obvious cloud circulation on the other
> > side of the GSR.  Numerous bright ovals in bands and a two particularly
> > bright areas along the meridian.  Pole banding now resolved.  We seen Io
> > reemerge as it "budded of" a bit earlier.
> >
> >
> >
> > A really great night.
> >
> >
> >
> > The Ethos eyepieces proved they are terrific planetary eyepieces.  With
> my
> > aging eyes and a cataract in my right eye, my TMB's are harder to use.
> > Confirmed that the Ethos were their equal in resolution and contrast,
> even
> > with more elements.  Robert confirmed this.  INHO, they are worth their
> > price and are the best eyepieces I have ever used.
> >
> >
> > BTW, for me the 6MM ethos gave the best views.  At 203x
> >
> >
> >
> > Robert and Jason and I enjoyed good conversation and camaraderie for a
> nice
> > evening of viewing.  Packed up and was home around 1230am.
> >
> >
> >
> > Good time had by all.
> >
> >
> >
> > Wish more of you could have been there.  allen
> >
> >
> >
> > E. Allen Davis
> >
> > starstorm151 at embarqmail.com
> >
> >
> >
> > "M'Illumino              "I am enlightened
> >
> > D'Immenso"              by the immensity."
> >
> >
> >
> >   -Ungaretti               -Ungaretti
> >
> >
> >
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