Planet Jupiter

[Bill, KD0HG]

Is shining brightly in the SE sky right after sunset...Brightest thing up there right now.
Saw it last evening, reportedly you can even see one or two of its moons with a small scope.
From Denver's Channel 9 TV:

-----------------

USA - The planet Jupiter will be at its brightest Wednesday night over Colorado.

Jupiter will make its closest approach of the year Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
"Closest" is a relative term because the distance is still about 391 million miles from Earth.
Look low in the southeastern sky just after sunset which is at 8:29 p.m. Wednesday evening and Jupiter will outshine any other stars or planets in the sky.
As the evening wears on, Jupiter will travel over the southern sky and will set around sunrise Thursday morning.

[KB2WIG]

I listen to it all the time........

klc

[W1RKW]

Is it true Jupiter can be heard as low as the 20m band?

I'm not sure the name of this moon of Jupiter but it's the closet to the planet and with at least an 8" scope one can see the moon or it's shadow traverse the surface of Jupiter in about 30minutes time.  Kind of neat to watch.

[KB2WIG]

yes,  i've herd the woshis down to around 10 mc, if I remember correctly....   klc

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I worked lots of stations from Jupiter over the years:
Stations From Jupiter

[W3RSW]

One of my earliest RA books published in '61 noted that Jupiter had non-thermnal radiation, strongly polarized with individual bursts lasting for a minute or so with groups of bursts lasting around an hour.  Frequencies peaked around 20 Mcs with band-widths of about 10 Mcs.

"The energies involved in each burst is enormous, being the equvalent of several hydrogen bombs..."
"Radio Astronomy," J.H. Piddington, Harper Science Today, 1961.

Radar studies were also mentioned and here's a really interesting paragraph.   
"Several aerial systems are now being built or planned with performances of 10,000 millstones or more and will be capable of detecting nearly all the planets and large astroids."

 I'll have to look up the unit of measurement referred.  Is it way cool or what?

If I remember rightly, later research showed that the 20 Mhz radiation is synchrotron type stuff related to a very strong planetary rotating magnetic field capturing solar wind,  Moon Io's quasi-periodic discharges of same, etc.  along with 'whiter' noise from lightning discharges from very active storm systems brought on by counter rotating gas belts, permanent and vast hurricanes....  you name it.

Damn near a star at that what with all that noise...
How'd you like to set up a HF station on, say Europa?  Talk about QRN...

You'd need ol' Tesla to dig you out of that one.

[W1UJR]

Neat post!

Been studying celestial navigation since Jan, its a fascinating thing to see and understand the night sky.
So many things we think are "stars" are really planets here in our own solar system, Mars and Jupiter, Venus and Saturn.

If you want to see exactly where Jupiter is in your night sky, see --->> http://www.nightskyinfo.com/
and http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/mrst.php

-Bruce

[AJ1G]

I worked lots of stations from Jupiter over the years:
Stations From Jupiter

On of my favorite Florida beach bars is in Jupiter Inlet - The Square Grouper right on the south side of the inlet, at the end of Love Street.  Country music video watchers will recognize it from the video of the Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffet hit "Five O'Clock Somewhere".  Jackson keeps his Rybovitch marlin fishing boat that also appeared in video in Jupiter.  Tough life, but someone has to live it.....

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Tough life, but someone has to live it.....

Until the next big blow passes through and leaves boats in trees and locals blaming the government. Actually, Floridians seem to be more accepting of the risks involved with living there.

It's been years, but at one time I was able to see 5 of Jupiter's moons (think there are 9 total?) lined up in orbit at about a 45 degree angle with the aid of my trusty telescope. Interesting colors in that heavenly body. Of course, this was before Shoemaker-Levy messed with its complexion, maybe it looks like a pepperoni pizza now, with anchovies.   

Saturn was more of a challenge, barely coming over the horizon briefly most nights before dipping back down out of sight. Perhaps due to the hills surrounding the area. To the naked eye, it was a bright yellow dot shining away in the ESE night sky.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the evening sky to me was laying there in the upper pasture at my folks' place and watching satellites and high-flying aircraft pass overhead. Sometimes you could just hear an aircraft's engines after it had nearly passed from view. After being outside for a while with time for the eyes to properly adjust, the details and depth you can see are just incredible. It feels like you could fall up into the sky. Thank God for gravity.

[WD8BIL]

...at my folks' place and watching satellites and high-flying aircraft pass overhead.

Yup. My best buddy and I would wait for ECHO to come strolling by. Alex would yell from his backyard. We had my li'l brother convinced I could hear the echo of Alex's yell bounce off the ECHO satellite !!

"Why do think they call it an ECHO satellite, dummy?"

[flintstone mop]

You better watch out for URANUS!!!!!!!!!
Fred

[K9ACT]

If anyone is interested in seeing what can be seen on Jupiter with a backyard telescope and modern technology, check out   

     http://schmidling.com/jupiter.htm

Nothing close to this resolution could have been produced with the world's largest ground based scope just 25 years ago.

Jack

[k4kyv]

Good photos.

Hey, Jack.  Why don't you listen on 75 after sunset this evening.  I plan to get on if QRN conditions continue to be low, as they were last night.

[K9ACT]

Good photos.

Hey, Jack.  Why don't you listen on 75 after sunset this evening.  I plan to get on if QRN conditions continue to be low, as they were last night.

Guess I missed that last night.  I was busy on 20 meters.

The Reading Hour here is 0200Z so that conflicts with right after sunset but I will give it a try after 0300z.
3885 for lack of a better idea.

js

[N3DRB The Derb]

I'm restoring a mid 60's Sears 60MM job. Gonna use my collection of GSO 1.25" eyepieces with it.

[K9ACT]

I'm restoring a mid 60's Sears 60MM job. Gonna use my collection of GSO 1.25" eyepieces with it.

Someone gave me a 60mm Tasco which is probably the same scope with the Sears label and just for a lark, I strapped it onto one of my bigger scopes and took a picture of the Great Hercules Star Cluster through it.

This was a film photo before I graduated to a cooled digital cameras but it is amazing what it could actually do with the then best film available.

The story is at: 

http://schmidling.com/tasco.htm

And then spoil your day by looking at  http://schmidling.com/m13.htm

js

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Neat stuff, Jack -

I have the big brother to your Tasco spotting scope, the 450X 6" Newtonian Reflector. Bought it 2+ decades back with an ex-YL, had a blast with it and also felt that they got a bum rap from the telescope 'snobs' (every hobby seems to have them). Really not a lot different than binoculars, many folks never take the time to get educated in things like focal length, exit pupil, and other simple matters than make a huge difference in viewing pleasure and effectiveness. Particularly the celestial/terrestrial difference. They look for the big power/'X' number and run with it.

Celestron was big into the Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes which folks liked for their portability, but the trade off for the compact size was a loss of optical clarity. Still, a spotting scope is easier to move and set up than a refractor or reflector, so they sold well. Probably the better choice for a dabbler. 

I was looking at an 8" Meade reflector (Navy Blue instead of Fire Engine Red) for sale in the camera shop where I worked, but it was 3 times the price. Nice scope, but discouraging to a young person with limited income. Tasco and others were like the WRL or Heathkit of telescopes, providing an entry level option for folks to get their feet wet and decide if they wanted to go further with astronomy.

Your photos prove the point!

[K9ACT]

> Nice scope, but discouraging to a young person with limited income. Tasco and others were like the WRL or Heathkit of telescopes, providing an entry level option for folks to get their feet wet and decide if they wanted to go further with astronomy.

Your photos prove the point!

It is amazing the commonality between amateur radio and amateur astronomy.

From the deterioration of the magazines and institutions purported to support the hobbies to the near total lack of interest in "homebrewing".   Easy credit and the need for instant gratification have taken their toll on both hobbies.

There was a time in both when you built your own or did without.  This merged with only the rich kids could afford to buy to, only the dedicated few build.

I have built every serious scope I ever owned and have the same satisfaction saying this as I get over the air describing my AM equipment.

js

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I think it's referred to as progress, Jack. Not many folks today have the tools or skills required to grind their own optics and assemble their own telescopes these days. But I bet the folks who end up really liking it and want more end up acquiring those skills and tools to do so later. Just like amateur radio. There was a time you had no choice even if you had money - there weren't a lot of, or any commercial products available. Laboratory, at best. So you dug up parts and built your own, crappy as it may end up being. These days, simple technology like radio is cheap. Telescopes too.

It seems more of a reverse-osmosis process now, where folks come in by the ready-built approach and end up building and designing later, if the interest takes hold. Today's newbies really don't have a lot of choice. Who is out there bringing them into these hobbies? Even in my early days, I had to seek out local hams for more info. They weren't looking for me. Interest and desire did the trick.

 

[W3RSW]

One of my fondest memories was that of using the Unitron model 114 that my Dad acquired back in the 50's.  Chromed brass fittings, 'duraluminin' tube, honest slow motion controls on the mounting...and a true Fraunhofer f/15, 60mm objective. Boy, what $125 bought in those days, complete with four eyepieces.  Scope given to sister's kids... not much use anymore.  My first views of the moon and greater planets were stupendous..   Mars, on the other had was a featurless orange ball during, I think the '57? opposition. Have to find an old note but I think that was one of the infamous planetary wide dust storms, couldn't even see the polar caps.

Amazingly even though it had a chromed brass finder barrel, the objective on it wasn't achromatic.  Later 114 models fixed that.

I was so impressed with that refractor the second major thing I bought as a working adult after a decent car was a 4" Unitron 160. Paid on a time account over several years, of course.  Uesd it a lot in Jean, NV, about 30 miles south of Vegas and light pollution free back in the 60's.  That scope was a work of art, brass clock works, guide scope, 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" plate camera, & rotary eyepiece holders.

- think I showed this pix before but here's my father w/cigar "observing" in front of his house in twilight w/ my 160.  Notice that yards weren't manecured in those days.  Cig butts from the porch to road.

Great scopes.   ...then I got married.

[K9ACT]

   Mars, on the other had was a featurless orange ball during, I think the '57? opposition. Have to find an old note but I think that was one of the infamous planetary wide dust storms, couldn't even see the polar caps.

I know the feeling. But I hit pay dirt in 2003, the best equipment I could afford and a bit of luck produced images again, that no earth based scope could produce a few decades earlier.

My trophies are at     http://schmidling.com/mars03.htm and another link with the pathetic results of what I did before that.

js