And So It Goes...

General astronomy-related discussion (publicly viewable)
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Apollo XX
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And So It Goes...

Unread post by Apollo XX »

...it started snowing last week and it hasn't stopped, nor does it look like it will anytime soon. But let's not let that get us down, eh?! There'll be moments of clarity, there always is, and I've crafted a challenge that's easy on the body just perfect for those moments. You can download it here; http://www.mediafire.com/view/yzejg4wzz ... llenge.pdf So put that scope outside and refuse to let February get by without some observing! Refuse! REFUSE! :shock:
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Apollo XX
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Re: And So It Goes...

Unread post by Apollo XX »

Hello Challenge Group,

I hope everyone gets a chance to take in a couple of transit events on Jupiter this month. Of course if you read the Whatzup Challenge for February you know that I constructed a list of convenient transit times for your viewing pleasure. Well, there's some mistakes in that list. If you got out tonight like I did to try and see Io's shadow on Jupiter's disc, you probably also said "huh"? It wasn't there. That's because I mistakenly listed the Universal Time date instead of the local time date, which is the day before for times up to 05:00 UT. So for each of the Galilean Moon transit events listed, you need to cross off the date and put the day before in it's place. The Great Red Spot dates are not affected and remain the same. My apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by this error.

All that said, I did get to see Europa's shadow transit, which you'll note was listed for tomorrow night. The seeing was as bad as can be, the transparency was almost as bad as the seeing, and the shadow was very difficult to discern. The conditions wouldn't tolerate more than low 100's for magnification, and the limbs of the planet looked like teeth on a saw blade at times. But hey, it was nice to get out for a little while.
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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Apollo XX
MSSF Coordinator
Posts: 2785
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2010 8:11 pm

Re: And So It Goes...

Unread post by Apollo XX »

O/k, February was a tough month for observing. Maybe you didn't get out for any HCTE's? Well, there's always March and Jupiter is still in prime position for observing. Plus, it's getting noticeably warmer. What more can one ask for? Oh, another list you say? O/k, here you go;

HCTE’s for March 2015:

Galilean Moon Shadow Transits:

8pm 3/12, 3/29

9pm 3/12, 3/14

10pm 3/14, 3/19

Great Red Spot Transits:

8pm 3/12, 3/19, 3/24, 3/31

9pm 3/14, 3/26

10pm 3/9, 3/16, 3/21, 3/28

Those of you who have been looking all along will probably agree that the Red Spot is just a little more visible than in has been recent years. There's appears to be a trough of whiter material bordering it and increasing the contrast in the area. I'm getting marvelous views of it in 4" and 4.5" scopes at 150+ power. Plus our alignment with the orbital plane of the Galilean moons makes observing this apparition more rewarding than ever.

Jupiter - highly recommended! 8)
"The purpose of life is the investigation of the Sun, the Moon, and the heavens." - Anaxagoras
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