Double Moon Transit with a Twist
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
Geeze, I've been playing with my old ToUcam for years and never got anything approaching this!
Pete P.
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
That's a great start Andy! Get out the barlow...Mars is coming to opposition!
Mike
Mike
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
Cool Andy, looks like maybe a little disc action on the moon there- sweet
Bruce D
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
Hey, howzabout a little "Overzealous Dingbat" tale? Sound good? Though so. 
So I step out the door at work today and take a look at the sky. WOWZA! It's perfectly clear, deep blue and just right for my chasing moon shadows in the day quest. So I get my butt out of there as quick as I can and navigate my way to the homestead by just past 3:00pm. On goes the computer, out comes the scope, and I'm ready to engage in the chase. A quick consultation with Stellarium shows the sun to be 37* above the western horizon, and Jupiter to be 37* above the eastern horizon. Cool. Broad daylight if it ever was, and we're about to find out what's what.
I adjust the altitude of the OTA to 37.5* and set the azimuth to facing almost due east and start to pan a little at low power. It took less than 30 seconds to land Jupiter and I'm thinking that's a good sign. Based on my last experience, I immediately ramp up to 200x. Hmmm, not so clear. The significantly brighter sky of mid-afternoon has rendered the contrast muted, and the unsteady seeing perpetuated by a high sun makes focusing almost impossible.
I give it a few minutes, then start working my way down in power until I can glean some detail from the image. The wind is howling and the seeing is really bad - 2 out of 10 at best, and long periods pass between fleeting moments of what couldn't even be called clarity. It's been 15 - 20 minutes and I ain't seein' no shadow! Cripes, I'm lucky to be seeing equatorial bands! Most of the time they're difficult to discern. I wouldn't call the situation hopeless though, as there were a couple of moments where I thought I might be able to see something if only the seeing would give me just a couple of more seconds.
The thought comes to me that maybe with a little more information I might meet with success, so I traipse in to access the computer and see exactly where the shadow should be - you know - the power of suggestive thinking. Hey, sometimes it works. So onto S&T I go and up with the moons utility I come, and this is what I see:
WHAT THE??? No wonder I can't see any shadow - there is none! Now I'm sitting there telling myself I did NOT screw up these predictions (although it wouldn't be the first time) and so I start playing with the time buttons. A little forward - nope. A little backward - nope. One day forward - YOU DOPE! I was right, I didn't screw up the predictions. In looking back at my notes, it's right there clear as day, 3-25-14. Um, today's the 24th.
Oh well, some fun was had anyway. Tomorrow's not looking too good for continuing the quest, but there'll be more opportunities coming up. In the meantime I took a snapshot through the eyepiece of what Jupiter looks like at 110x in a clear blue sky, and the inset is a 100% crop from that image. You can faintly make out the equatorial bands if you bend your head just right, close one eye and put your fingers in your ears.
Hope you enjoyed,
Mike M.
So I step out the door at work today and take a look at the sky. WOWZA! It's perfectly clear, deep blue and just right for my chasing moon shadows in the day quest. So I get my butt out of there as quick as I can and navigate my way to the homestead by just past 3:00pm. On goes the computer, out comes the scope, and I'm ready to engage in the chase. A quick consultation with Stellarium shows the sun to be 37* above the western horizon, and Jupiter to be 37* above the eastern horizon. Cool. Broad daylight if it ever was, and we're about to find out what's what.
I adjust the altitude of the OTA to 37.5* and set the azimuth to facing almost due east and start to pan a little at low power. It took less than 30 seconds to land Jupiter and I'm thinking that's a good sign. Based on my last experience, I immediately ramp up to 200x. Hmmm, not so clear. The significantly brighter sky of mid-afternoon has rendered the contrast muted, and the unsteady seeing perpetuated by a high sun makes focusing almost impossible.
I give it a few minutes, then start working my way down in power until I can glean some detail from the image. The wind is howling and the seeing is really bad - 2 out of 10 at best, and long periods pass between fleeting moments of what couldn't even be called clarity. It's been 15 - 20 minutes and I ain't seein' no shadow! Cripes, I'm lucky to be seeing equatorial bands! Most of the time they're difficult to discern. I wouldn't call the situation hopeless though, as there were a couple of moments where I thought I might be able to see something if only the seeing would give me just a couple of more seconds.
The thought comes to me that maybe with a little more information I might meet with success, so I traipse in to access the computer and see exactly where the shadow should be - you know - the power of suggestive thinking. Hey, sometimes it works. So onto S&T I go and up with the moons utility I come, and this is what I see:
WHAT THE??? No wonder I can't see any shadow - there is none! Now I'm sitting there telling myself I did NOT screw up these predictions (although it wouldn't be the first time) and so I start playing with the time buttons. A little forward - nope. A little backward - nope. One day forward - YOU DOPE! I was right, I didn't screw up the predictions. In looking back at my notes, it's right there clear as day, 3-25-14. Um, today's the 24th.
Oh well, some fun was had anyway. Tomorrow's not looking too good for continuing the quest, but there'll be more opportunities coming up. In the meantime I took a snapshot through the eyepiece of what Jupiter looks like at 110x in a clear blue sky, and the inset is a 100% crop from that image. You can faintly make out the equatorial bands if you bend your head just right, close one eye and put your fingers in your ears.
Hope you enjoyed,
Mike M.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
I've done the same thing Mike. Gotta love converting UT.
Pete
Pete
Pete P.
Re: Double Moon Transit with a Twist
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras