August 2, 2004

Jupiter Graze

Image Credit: Mike Tyrrell

Jupiter Graze The Moon is huge - in our sky. This is brought home every time any other planet is in the same eyepiece field with Luna. On January 26, 2002, Jupiter grazed the Moon's southeast limb, at least as seen from Mike Tyrrell's backyard in the United Kingdom. Working with his colleague Phillip Masding, Mike constructed this animation which beautifully documents the sliding of the Moon past Jupiter and two of its moons. The large crater above Jupiter at the beginning of the animation is Bailly. Look very closely at Jupiter and you will see two or three mountains projected in silhouette as the Moon grazes the planet. These are the Doerfel Mountains which were named by Schroeter in the late 1700s. This name was dropped from the Moon's official nomenclature because the exact identification of the peaks is difficult. They appear to be high spots on the rims of Bailly, Hausen and the Atiken-South Pole Basin. A movie of a grazing occultation of a planet is an excellent way to explore the limb. — Chuck Wood Technical Details: 10" Meade LX200 telescope with JVC digital video camera. Each frame based on approx 20 frames stacked and highly processed - see Mike's web page for details. Note that the animation speeds up the graze 50 times normal speed. Yesterday's LPOD: Another Day, Another Success Tomorrow's LPOD: Still on the Limb

Author & Editor: Charles A. Wood

 

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