Fun with Jupiter and its Galilean Moons

 

It was when I did the Jupiter is in Opposition post that I discovered that my new camera allowed me to see its four Galilean moons. I got excited then. I hoped that, even as Jupiter moved away from its position in opposition, I would be able to continue photographing it's moons. And I have been able to get quite a few remarkable shots, just as I hoped. Most nights this winter I've had to scale back my expectations because of the cloud cover that has moved through, and that has rankled me, but I suppose I ought to be grateful for what I have been able to record.  

I love retirement. I have been able to pursue whatever interests me. I'm not doing anything about photographing Jupiter that I couldn't have done as a kid, but I didn't get the chance back then. Second childhood, right?  And I don't want to invest a fortune in optics and try to rival the professional pictures I see on line. I'm more than satisfied to do the best I can with what I have. But what a shame it would be not to make the most of these years of freedom between my working years and my entry into eternity. I don't intend to waste them sitting around.  

Let me share a couple of sets of photos with you.  

This first series is entitled, Who Knew?

This is what Jupiter and its four moons looked like to me one night.  You'll notice that they appear to be at a steep angle right now.  The angle will change with the rotation of the earth.  
This (above) is the size they appear when I take the picture. I always use the same amount of zoom, about 80 power.   

Once I've uploaded the pictures from the camera into the computer, I can edit them. Basically, I just crop them so I get a closer view.  This is the same picture after cropping out a bunch of space... (Wow. Einstein taught about bending space. In the movie Dune, the Spacing Guild folded space. I crop it. Pretty impressive, huh?)

I'll use this sort of view most of the time with my other pictures.  

Now, this next one is the same picture yet again, but I've labeled the moons. There is blue C, Callisto,  green G, Ganymede, then yellow E, Europa, and orange I, Io.  

They happen to be arranged in this picture in the order they are arranged in their orbits around Jupiter, although the current positions seen above do not reflect the size of their orbits proportionally.   

Callisto's orbit is 1,170,000 miles from Jupiter

Ganymede's is 664,870 miles

Europa's 416,000 miles 

Io, 262,000 miles

The pictures I have been showing you were taken on the night of September 9, 2021. 

The next picture came as a surprise to me.  When I took it, I did not realize that there was anything 'extra' in it.  If you look back at the first picture in this post, you'll agree that the moons appear very small. Hard to spot anything out of the ordinary when I click, especially when I'm looking at the little 2" by 3" view screen on my camera. 

But, when I cropped the picture, blew it up so to speak, look at what I found!  What the heck is that, over on the right??  And guess what?  I discovered that it wasn't in the very next picture that I took less than a  minute later. Something zipped through.

Hmmm...I had to figure this out.... (no, not a helicopter) 

I did a search.  I typed in, 'satellites above NZ last night.'  

One of the sites made available to me was, Auckland, NZ, Sighting Opportunity, Spot the Station. 

I discovered on this site that the ISS, or International Space Station, had indeed passed overhead last night. It was visible for about two minutes. I went back to my picture and checked its time stamp. Sure enough, it was taken during that very brief window of time when the ISS was visible above New Zealand. It had moved from the southwest to the northeast. Perfect. Jupiter was in the northeast when I photographed it.  Mystery solved!  Wahoo! What are the odds?  

This next series is entitled, Nothing up my Sleeve...Presto!

There are only two moons visible right now.  I've seen that before.  The other two must be hidden either in front, where they get 'washed out' by the brightness of Jupiter, or they are behind it.  

I've labeled them now. 

This is picture 6, keep that in mind.

  

Now, I want you to look at this next pictures very closely, and notice what happened here.  

I'll tell you all about it in a minute. 

All the pictures in this series were taken on Oct. 13, 2021,  

Same picture, labeled...

This picture was taken just a short time (a matter of minutes) after Picture 6 was snapped. Callisto is in this shot, but not in Picture 6. There has not been time for Callisto to come out from behind Jupiter and move all across that much space. Nor was Callisto partially hidden behind Io. If you look closely at Picture 6, you won't see a double moon.  So, what's going on?  How come Callisto suddenly popped into view so far from Jupiter?  

Well, I wasn't savvy enough on my own to figure this out, but I discovered a website called Sky and Telescope. I was able to do all this labeling because of them and I learned why Callisto suddenly became visible in this photo. Have you figured it out maybe?  

Remember that Io is only 262,000 miles from Jupiter. Callisto is Way further out, behind  both Jupiter and Io in this picture.  The reason it popped into view suddenly, at a distance from Jupiter, (so far to the right) is that it was in Jupiter's shadow until just moments ago.  

Sky and Telescope told me when it would move out of Jupiter's shadow, to the minute, and I was ready with my camera to catch it when it did. It was in our line of sight but invisible just one minute before this picture was taken. I find that fascinating.  

Io might have popped into view the same way Callisto did, but it would have done so much closer to Jupiter, because the shadow gets wider the farther away from Jupiter it goes. (It had not been dark long enough tonight for me to have seen what Io might have done earlier.)  

All this is just amazing. There are countless photos available that are factors of ten better than mine. But I am so pleased with my own efforts. I'm discovering/researching it myself. The fact that I'm an old man when I'm doing it makes no difference. I'm not trying to be a professional. 

My 'nose was to the grindstone' most of my life, and now I'm getting the chance to play a little.  I am so grateful for that. And boy, what a powerful toy I have.  

I've taken pictures of Jupiter and its moons many nights. A couple of times, I have stayed up late. One night, it was almost 2 a.m. before I finally called it quits. To really do a good job and fully record the movements of the moons, I'd have to stay up all night.  But, like Bartleby, the scrivener famously said, "I'd prefer not to."  As much as I enjoy watching the night sky, I find that the 'Law of Diminishing Returns' starts kicking in for me some time after 11 p.m. most nights.

I've got to make another comment about Sky and Telescope. That site is so impressive. I understood something further when I looked at what's available there. I was so pleased.   

Here's what happened.  Ever since Jupiter was in opposition and I did that post, I have been taking pictures and studying how the moons move. It seemed to me, after a great deal of looking, that they were moving clock-wise. I came to believe that.  Then, I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered that the moons actually move counter-clockwise. I was so disappointed. I was wrong!  

Then, the first time I was on Sky and Telescope, I found that they have icons for the 'direct view' and one for the 'inverted view.'  Sky and Telescope shows how Jupiter and its moons appear from the northern hemisphere with the direct view. The inverted view icon turns the image upside down; handy for those in the southern hemisphere. 

I suddenly realized that I had been right all along. I see things upside down here, so I was correct when I thought the moons were orbiting Jupiter in a clockwise direction!  They do so when you're standing on your head! I was elated. My observational skills triumph!!  

Well, that's it for tonight.  I do have one more thing to show you I guess.  I spotted something else one night.  I thought it might be a flying saucer at first but changed my mind as I brought it closer.  I'm going to continue to try for clearer pictures. Keep watching...          

These are a little clearer than the one I closed Jupiter is in Opposition with. I hope to do even better.

 A few stray thoughts:

• At the Opposition, the moons would have appeared right next to Jupiter as they came out from behind it because its shadow would have been directly behind it.  
• As time passes, Jupiter's shadow will change in direction. (angle) 
• The farther away from Jupiter a moon orbits, the farther from Jupiter it will appear when it exits its shadow. (eclipse) 
• Will there come a time when a moon enters the eclipse and disappears before it reaches Jupiter? I think it ought to. That would be interesting to see.  
• The moons appear in these pictures to be moving back and forth in one dimension mostly. The second dimension is not always obvious and of course they're really moving in three.  

 Got any more thoughts of your own?                                                          -djf