November 27, 2015

Moon Over Jupiter Over Florida

Originally published December 8, 2004

Image Credit: Howard Eskildsen

Moon Over Jupiter Over Florida It seems we are blessed to be living at a time when astronomical rarities happen one right after another: The historic Leonid storm of a few years ago, the close approach of Mars a year ago, the alignment of planets, recent frequent naked eye sunspots, and in the early morning of December 7 an occultation of Jupiter. Like much of the US apparently, Tucson was cloudy, but in Florida, Howard Eskildsen, was able to view and image the event. Once again, as when Mars was near the Moon earlier last year, the nearness of the two bodies emphasizes how huge the Moon is compared to any other solar system object in the night sky. Jupiter is about 33 seconds of arc wide and the lovely Moon is 60 times larger, 30 minutes of arc wide, Surprisingly, many people observe this visual runt of a planet... — Chuck Wood Technical Details: Taken through Jose Olivarez's 8" f/6 reflector with a Nikon Coolpix 4300.  The close-up image (right) used a 9 mm eyepiece and the left one was through a 40 mm Maxview eyepiece from Scopetronix.  Related Links: A Late Night Jupiter Occultation Rukl Atlas of the Moon, Sheet 70 Yesterday's LPOD: Up Close With Proclus Tomorrow's LPOD: A Long Valley

Author & Editor: Charles A. Wood

 

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