Moons of Jupiter

Wow, I did not realize it has been a year and a half since I last posted. We did build a home last year but we never stopped star gazing. Since my last post we have seen many things. Most recently we have been able to clearly see the moons of Jupiter in the ESE night sky at around 10PM Eastern.

On the night of our Memorial Day celebration several people who had never looked through a telescope were here and we able to see our moon Luna and four moons of Jupiter! It was a wonderful experience. If you are in the Southeastern US Jupiter should rise almost East and move to ESE by about 9:45PM it should be about 30 degrees above the horizon. It will be the brightest light in the ESE skies.

I do not know for sure but I am guess we are seeing the Galilean moons, Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. We have not yet purchased a CCD or tracking mount but that is next on the list! When I do I will post photos of our sightings.

We have also been satellite spotting and, even with the bright ambient lights in our area, we are able to see multiple units each clear night. Mostly between 9:15P and 10:30P. If you have never spotted a satellite it is fairly easy. The best time to spot them is just before sun rise or just after sun down. Look up for at least 15 to 20 minutes and look for a moving star. If it is not flashing or emitting vapor or noise it is most likely an orbiting object.

Fortunately I was also able to see the Space Shuttle just after it separated from the International Space Station thanks to a heads up from someone at my office. I was at home, walked outside, looked in the direction they indicated and there it was! I did see it fairly well with my eyes but much better with my 10x50 binoculars.