Thorough report, Mak. I plan on embarking upon some color filters, soon. Have you heard about the upcoming series of double shadow transits on Jupiter?
http://assne.org/2017/04/22/double-moon-transits-of-jupiter-for-may-june-2017/

 

Thanks. I've just been watching Jupiter for about two and a half hours with a variety of filters, mostly the Baader Blue 470nm bandpass.

Thanks for the link, it's just gone midnight here, which makes the first double transit at 02:59 British Summer Time I think.

I could see three distinct dark marks in the north and south equatorial belts that tracked with the planet's rotation. I'm pretty sure they're surface features though. If I feel up to it I may go out later to view Saturn. Jupiter will be low in the west for me but it might be worth having a look at.



I could have been seeing the shadow of Metis and Adrastea but I would have thought they would be too small.

 

If you like the Caldwell Family, you'll want to, perhaps, have this linked-up on your desktop or similar:

http://davidpaulgreen.com/free-astronomy-software/the-caldwell-object-log/

FREE - of course (mean old socialist me...)

And he has quite a few similar toys to enjoy:

http://davidpaulgreen.com/

Pay it foreward, anyone?

Dave

PS - Thanks for the info, Reggie! Looks to be an interesting site, being a New Englander too.

 

Thanks Dave, no 'nix version I see lol. Well, being an Olde Englander I went back out to have a butcher's at Jupiter and Saturn. I tried to ignore the Full Moon. I couldn't see those dark equatorial features again on Jupiter as they would have moved with rotation. I spent most of the session on Jupiter and Saturn at 150x with the 6mm Vixen SLV. With the conditions deteriorating slightly and Jupiter rapidly setting I found I was using the #82A and Baader Neodymium mostly. Saturn was quite good and I watched it until just after transit. I tried upping the magnification but the best views were at 150x and some at 164x. I managed 180x for a little while. I'm pretty sure I got a hint of surface detail in the northern equatorial region. I could just about make out Titan.

 

Titan is usually the stand-up Moon of Saturn. Saturn must be quite low on your horizon. I haven't even tried Saturn yet - still all clouds here. And cold.

It might be better this weekend - or so say the weather-liars we have here in Podunk & environs.....

Off to surf in the Methane Sea -

Dave




Titan by Huygens

 

Titan looks nice for a surfing holiday. Unless those Zeta Reticulans have left rubbish and beer cans all over the beaches.



Saturn was 15.6° for me at transit, still higher than Antares though.



The rings are beautifully open but at that altitude you are looking through a lot of atmosphere. At least I'm 182 metres above sea level on one of the highest points in the area.



My new Saturn book claims that Hyperion is 'biscuit' shaped.



I'm guessing biscuit has a different meaning in the US, I was expecting a Chocolate Digestive lol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digestive_biscuit#Chocolate_digestives

 

I'd say that the Saturnian Moon 'Daphnis' is more the contender for being called a biscuit. Here's two takes looking through the rings:



&





Titan's lakefront properties still 'appear' relatively pristine. But we should wreck the place in due course.....




That's my favorite image from Huygens!

Enjoy!

Dave

 

More chocolate chip cookie ...



... if you ask me lol.

 

Nice! They really put Daphnis in scale! "Chocolate Chip?" More like "Crumb" in my view!

Next thing they'll be naming road-gravel "Moons" and giving their telemetry, too.

Cool -

Dave

 

Yeah, but you wouldn't want Daphnis to drop onto your house!

 

Quite so! But I really doubt I'll be buying a new home in/on the rings of Saturn. Sounds like a good scam though - rather like those 'outfits' that will sell you a star. But they're likely from zeta-Reticuli...

Dave

 

Yeah, those Zeta Reticulans have got a lot to answer for.



They probably run a scam selling their own star to gullible beings. Or try to infect your computer with ransomeware threatening to anally probe your hard drive if you don't pay.

They'll get their comeuppance one day!

 

You're killing me here!

Dave

 

The weather's killing me here. I got a quick look at the Moon, inbetween rain clouds, a couple of nights ago. The Rimae Petavius wasn't quite shadowed by the terminator but Mare Crisium looked good. I could barely get a sharp 66x ~ 100x though.

 

Cold and wet rules our weather the last few days & nights. We're supposed to get some Summer-type temperatures during this upcoming week. I'll believe it when I see & feel it.

"If ya don' like the weather - just wait a minute!" - Old New-England adage. We have many more - but some of them would likely give the 'Powers-That-Be' a coronary if I wrote them here!

As it stands, I'm keeping my mind numb and ready to jump-start - as soon as we get some clear skies at night. I belong to an online gaming-site (Pogo) which I visit when I'm bored-into-slime. I've found a nice spot in there, filled with Little-Old-Ladies, and I enjoy talking with them on politics! They're as radical as I am! And they seem to enjoy my status - the only man in the place! To their credit, most of them are from Canada. Canadians are a civilized people - unlike most people to their immediate South.....

Time to go and re-charge my power-tank. The monthly chore.

Don't worry. The Moon is still up there. And the weather, too, will cooperate on occasion. In the meantime - take-up 'cloudwatching' as a hobby! I'll leave you a favorite image of such -

Dave

 

Those are some groovy clouds. Speaking of clouds, the transparency wasn't brilliant but the sky looked kinda clear and bluish around 21:00 BST so I set up. It took a while but eventually I saw a twilight Jupiter. I got a flash earlier but it disappeared quicky, unless that was a Zeta Reticulan scoutship.



I observed for a good two and a half hours and watched the GRS slowly appear and move across the surface. At around transit (22:32) I got 225x with the 4mm AH ortho' combined with the blue Baader filter. I was at 180x for a bit, but for the first half and very end of the session, I was at 150x with the 6mm Vixen SLV. The transparency was a bit pants but the overall seeing was pushing A1 ~ A2 and I had a quite sharp and steady image for a while until it deteriorated around 23:15. I was so impressed I ordered the 5mm SLV as I can get them for £79 (101.80 USD) apiece. Agena are selling them for $169 (£131.13). That's my excuse for ordering another one anyway lol. I've also ordered one of these: http://www.astronomik.com/en/visual-filters/uhc-e-filter.html?size=135 but I'm not sure why.

 

Astronomik UHC-E? Interesting looking filter from the German Astronomik company. They make some of the finest filters out there. I don't have the 'E' version, but I do have the UHC itself. I'll be looking foreward to your findings with this beastie! WOW - seems the exchange-rates are fluctuating. Again! The '£' has gained on the '$' a bit.

Come to think of filters, I think I have a Baader that is about the same as the UHC-E. I'll have a check on that before collapsing tonight over here. Early day tomorrow - have to get my busted 'wing' tended to by the 'Quack!'

Have you seen Ray anywhere? He seems to have vanished awhile ago. I always like his 'take' on things! Hey Ray!! Wake up!

Take it easy,

Dave

 

It could be similar to the Baader UHC-S, I really want to compare them. The UHC-E is supposedly good with Jupiter and comets. As it is designed specifically for apertures around 5" I just couldn't resist it for the Bazooka.

Good luck at the quacks.

I'm not sure what's happened to Ray, no doubt he'll post when he feels up to it. I really hope he gets a chance to take that ST80 out soon.



Speaking of Baader stuff, this is an exploded 6mm BCO (don't ask lol). I'm blaming those pesky Reticulans!

 

Yes - the Baader UHC-S is what I'm wondering about as well.

They have very close passbands to one another. I'd toss in my "Lightbulb-Test" for both the Astronomik UHC and the Baader UHC-S, which look essentially identical, but the images are over the 2MB limit here. I'll find out the exact spectra by 'hook-or-by-crook,' Number 6.....

I won't ask what the guts of whatever it is you dissected above. I just hope it was killed with a quick & painless method of execution! LOL

I hope Ray does get his new ST80 up & running this coming week. We have same actual warm nights coming in - past due! I haven't had a chance to officially baptize the new Vixen Porta II alt.az mount and the Maksutov 150mm riding it. I've had a long Winter to tune it up for Bear! <growl!!> And I still have my Orion VersaGo II (same as the SW AZ-4 over there), in reserve for whatever else crawls in my door.....

Just wait 'til I find the 'zeta's' landing-craft! I have plans for that thing.....



On the next Merry-Go-Round!

Dave

 

They're re-running The Prisoner on Sundays here (again), two episodes at a time. They made Portmeirion look much bigger than it actually is when they filmed it.

http://www.portmeirion-village.com/

The bog-standard Astronomik UHC is probably more like the Lumicon UHC than the Baader UHC-S which is primarily designed with smaller apertures (4" ~ 5") in mind. Although I have a feeling the Astronomik UHC-E is less aggressive than the Baader UHC-S. I'll find out soon no doubt.

As for the weather, it's gone back to being a bit pants, although it's warm.