Jup in 2009-2006

Two images of Jupiter taken on October 5, 2009 showing a pattern of white ovals in the south polar region that are also visible in a Sep. 30 image just below these.

Compare the relative positions of the white ovals in the South polar region with the dark ovals in the South Equatorial Belt in these two images with that of the September 30th image below.

Two Images of Jupiter in late September 2009

Jupiter on Sep. 30, 2009 shows a pattern of white ovals in the South polar region at the top of the image. The opposite side of Jupiter on Sep. 26, shows a very active South Equatorial Belt (SEB) and North Equatorial Belt (NEB) . The moon Io has a yellow cast. Good seeing, Jim Melka

The impact site on Jupiter has not shown much change through seven days. It has a CMII estimated to be 213 degrees. Seeing conditions were only fair with Jupiter's low declination. Note the great red spot shown above is cut in half on the evening limb of the right image. 1200 frame AVIs at 30fps were processed with Registax 4.0. Good seeing, Jim Melka

Jupiter and Impact site on July 23, 2009

Jupiter has been the center of attention for the last four days for amateur astronomers in St. Louis where I am and also around the world. Anthony Weslsey an amateur astronomer in Australia discovered the dark impact site and notified NASA and the ALPO Jupiter Section so they could use telescopes and satellites to gather data on it. My photo shows the 4-day old impact site in far upper right, the moon Callisto, its shadow and Great Red Spot. I used my 12-inch Newtonian telescope with a DBK21AF04.AS color camera in Chesterfield, MO.

Checkout the time of day on the Great Red Spot’s Clockface; it says 4 O’clock on both images. I was hoping this feature would be persistent so it could be used to measure the rotation rate of the GRS. However, a higher quality image by Christopher Go 10 hours later did not show it. The right image shows the GRS nearly on the central meridian. I would put its position at CM II 126 degrees West Longitude. Good seeing, Jim Melka

Jupiter on August 31, 2008 UT imaged with 30cm Newtonian

These images were recorded 24 minutes apart on Saturday evening August 30 with good seeing and excellent sky transparency. South is at the top and Jupiter rotates from right to left in about 9 hours 55 minutes. Good seeing really makes the difference when trying to image small details. This time I did image about a half hour before sunset and also at sunset, but the seeing was best about an hour after sunset which was when Jupiter was at its highest altitude. Jim Melka

August 30, 2008

Jupiter on August 30, 2008 UT imaged with 30cm Newtonian

Seeing was poor at one hour after sunset. With South at the top, note the dark center of the GRS. Also, note the apparent brightness difference between Callisto and Io. Good seeing. Jim Melka

July 31, 2007

Jupiter on July 29, 2007 imaged with ASEM’s 32-inch Newtonian

Jupiter on the evening of July 31, 2006 with Jim Moody's 16-inch LX200 in his observatory on Trailtop Drive in Chesterfield, MO.

Jim Moody and I used his 16-inch LX200 in his observatory to image Jupiter on the evening of July 31, 2006. The seeing was variable and very poor on average but we got good results. The image on the left shows the GRS near Jupiter’s central meridian and the red oval preceeding above and to the left of it. One month ago the red oval trailed the GRS. The image on the right was obtained 16 minutes later, this time using a 2X barlow lens. South is at the top and the planet rotates from right to left. Good seeing to all from Jim Melka.

Jupiter on July 27th and reference diagram from BAA

Jim Moody and I used his 16-inch LX200 in his observatory to image Jupiter on the evening of July 26, 2006. The seeing was very poor but his fine telescope and image processing produced a good result. The image on the left shows the GRS and the red oval above and preceding it near the left limb. South is at the top and the planet rotates from right to left. The diagram on the right is courtesy Jupiter section of the British Astronomical Association. It shows all of the cataloged belts and zones on Jupiter. Good seeing to all from Jim Melka.

Jupiter on July 15th and 8th, 2006 - Red Oval BA Passes GRS

These two images of Jupiter are the result of two one-minute AVI’s taken 7 days apart. South is at the top and the planet rotates rapidly from right to left. Both images show the GRS with the ‘recently turned-red oval’ just above it. The GRS is in the westward-moving(to the right) south equatorial belt. The red oval moves eastward(to the left) in its south temperate belt. There does not appear to be any interaction between them. Good seeing to all from Jim Melka.

Jupiter on June 06 and July 07, 2006

The two images of Jupiter above are the result of two one-minute AVIs. South is at the top and the planet rotates rapidly from right to left. Both images show the GRS near the center with the ‘recently turned-red oval’ just above and close to the right of it. The right image shows the GRS on the central meridian of Jupiter. A downloadable program WinJUPOS gave a CMII of 112.6 degrees West longitude based on the median time of the AVI. The GRS usually moves Westward. Good seeing to all from Jim Melka.

Images below of Jupiter on June 25th and 26th, 2006

These two images of Jupiter show central meridians about 120 degrees apart. South is at the top and the planet rotates rapidly from right to left. The one on left shows the side of Jupiter just preceeding the side shown on the right. The right image shows the GRS to the left of center with the ‘red oval’ just above and very close to the right of it.

June 21, 2006

Three Weeks to Conjunction of GRS with Red Spot Jr.

South is at the top in these images of Jupiter. Estimated time of transit of GRS is 2:15UT giving it a CM II of 114 degrees. Red Jr spot is just above and to the right of the GRS in a south tropical belt.

Approximatetly 30 minutes after transit of Great Red Spot. The GRS seems to divide the south equatorial belt into 2 belts seen

to the left of the GRS. 90-second AVIs at 10fps were recorded with K3CCD Tools for both images.

June 14, 2006

Jupiter’s Storm’s Persist

June 4, 2006

Two Storms Converging on Jupiter

Red spot Jr visible just above and to the right

of the GRS with South at the top. Red Jr shows

a tail like feature diagonally up and to the right.

Second image taken 48 minutes later also shows

Shadow of Europa. ToUcam images by eyepiece

projection with a 12-inch Newtonian.

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