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The Moons of Jupiter (1 Viewer)

4

42za

Well-known member
South Africa
After a very long time trying , I think that I might have finally seen 2 of Jupiters Moons last night.
Looking North from the Southern Hemisphere they were very faint and on the Eastern side of Jupiter.
Can anyone confirm that these Moons are at present actually in this position , or is it my overactive immagination 😁.
I used my 7 x 45 Zeiss Night Owl , nothing was to be seen through my 10 x 32 Leica UVHD+.
Thanks.
 
42za said:
After a very long time trying , I think that I might have finally seen 2 of Jupiters Moons last night.
Looking North from the Southern Hemisphere they were very faint and on the Eastern side of Jupiter.
Can anyone confirm that these Moons are at present actually in this position , or is it my overactive immagination 😁.
I used my 7 x 45 Zeiss Night Owl , nothing was to be seen through my 10 x 32 Leica UVHD+.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

This is the current position of the 4 brightest moons seen from north of Sweden. You should be able to see these 4 with the binocular on a clear sky.
Source: Stellarium app.

Screenshot_20250217_141051.jpg
 
Last edited:
In the southern hemisphere everything is not only upside down but goes round the wrong way (right to left). ;)
With a 10x binocular on a tripod you should be able to see all four moons unless one or more are in transit.
Because of Jupiter's enormous mass, orbital periods are very short ranging from 1 3/4 days to nearly 17 days and through a scope it is sometimes possible to see one of the moons emerging from, or disappearing in transit.
To see their shadows on Jupiter's surface however, very good seeing and very high magnifications would be necessary.

John
 
Tringa45 said:
In the southern hemisphere everything is not only upside down but goes round the wrong way (right to left). ;)
With a 10x binocular on a tripod you should be able to see all four moons unless one or more are in transit.
Because of Jupiter's enormous mass, orbital periods are very short ranging from 1 3/4 days to nearly 17 days and through a scope it is sometimes possible to see one of the moons emerging from, or disappearing in transit.
To see their shadows on Jupiter's surface however, very good seeing and very high magnifications would be necessary.

John
Click to expand...

Yes, I did not think about that! I added the information from where that position will be seen.
 
Galileo was able to see these four moons with a very rudimentary telescope, so it shouldn't be difficult even with a handheld binocular, though a tripod could help. Often 3 or 4 are visible at once and they line up in the same plane, as in the photos above, which helps eliminate possible confusion. 10x32 isn't ideal for astronomy but I'm sure it would do; I'd take one out tonight but we have overcast weather here for a while.

Siderius nuncius.jpg
 
They can be a little tricky to see hand held. I never mount my binoculars on a tripod but I find even just leaning against something steadies the view enough to make them pretty obvious.
 
I tried again last night , with no luck , the atmosphere around here is just too polluted to enable anything to be seen.
Humans are destroyers of everything 😠.
 
Still no luck tonight , but I will keep trying :).

Binastro , thanks for the personal message , I have noted your advice , for some reason the system will not let me reply.
Thanks.
 
Success at last.
I managed to see all four of the Galilean Moons last night , (two on either side of Jupiter) , this time around there was no doubt.
The atmosphere here is far too polluted , (both light and smog) to see anything with my binoculars , but I was able to see them all with an old spotting 'scope that I was given.
This spotting scope was broken when it was given to me , it had been dropped , and the retractable drawtube was badly bent and could not be moved , this I managed to repair.
The 'scope gives surprisingly clear and sharp images right to the edge of the FOV, but is blurry when set on the maximum magnification setting , the other mag. settings work fine , this I can live with.
As is usual with these things , the clouds rolled in before I could really get started :).
(woo hoo).
 

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interesting, next few nights are good to look for Mercury close to Venus:


Mercury remains well placed in the evening twilight all week, but it's fading fast. About 40 or 50 minutes after sunset look for it low in the west, to the lower left or left of bright Venus. Mercury is 7° lower left of Venus on March 7th. They're 5½° apart at their wide conjunction on March 11th and 12th.

Mercury dwindles from magnitude –0.1 on March 7th to +1.6 on March 14th. By that date, binoculars will help as you look for it 6° to Venus's left.
 
42za said:
Success at last.
I managed to see all four of the Galilean Moons last night , (two on either side of Jupiter) , this time around there was no doubt.
The atmosphere here is far too polluted , (both light and smog) to see anything with my binoculars , but I was able to see them all with an old spotting 'scope that I was given.
This spotting scope was broken when it was given to me , it had been dropped , and the retractable drawtube was badly bent and could not be moved , this I managed to repair.
The 'scope gives surprisingly clear and sharp images right to the edge of the FOV, but is blurry when set on the maximum magnification setting , the other mag. settings work fine , this I can live with.
As is usual with these things , the clouds rolled in before I could really get started :).
(woo hoo).
Click to expand...

I have a quite similar spotting scope, handy format. They should make an upgrade.

IMG_0981.jpeg
IMG_0980.jpeg
 

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