The jet stream forecast was favorable over the year end break, so I reconfigured the PTO to planetary mode and got a few series of LRGB imagery while the sky was clear. All the images were analyzed for impacts and reports were submitted.
The PTO is still set up for planetary imaging. I was able to wait out the clouds and got some shots of Jupiter early this morning. The planet is currently in the constellation Ares and transits around 0445 CDT which puts it high overhead at dawn. At 1600 CDT today, the planet will halt its forward motion and appear to start backing up in the sky. This retrograde motion is an illusion due to the Earth’s and Jupiter’s locations in the solar system and their relative motions.
The image is, as indicated, a full LRGB image. The jet stream forecast was for good upper level conditions and the fine detail in the cloud tops show that to be the case.
The European Space Agency(ESA) launched its JUICE mission to Jupiter on the 14th of April 2023. Its ultimate targets are the icy moons of Jupiter, hence the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer moniker. But its first planetary target is not Jupiter. First off, it is heading for the Earth. In fact, Jupiter will only be its 5th planetary encounter. The space craft will get a velocity boost from Earth in August 2024, Venus in August 2025, another from Earth in September 2026 and the final Earth gravity boost in January 2029. Only then will the JUICE spacecraft have enough energy to make the trek all the way to Jupiter. It will arrive at its final destination in July 2031.
The mission’s purpose is to investigate the possibility of habitable environments on the three Jovian moons that are suspected to have significant amounts of liquid water beneath their surface ice: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. To that end the mission carries a suite of science instruments contributed by Japan, France, the US(NASA), Germany, Italy, the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
This animation is a set of ten 60 second images taken on the evening of the 14th. I hope to get additional imagery of the JUICE spacecraft on each of the 3 Earth gravity assist passes.
Earth’s shorter & faster orbit is putting Jupiter (and Saturn) in the sky earlier in the evening with Jupiter peeking over my eastern tree line at 2300. OK, 2300 isn’t exactly ‘early’ but it is for my nighttime schedule.
Jupiter and Saturn are finally visible over my eastern tree line in the early morning. I have to stay up longer than my usual schedule, but worth the extra time. Saturn is actually the first of the two to rise with Jupiter about an hour behind.
This image of Jupiter is, as usual, south up matching the view in most telescopes. The image of Saturn is north up just because I think that orientation looks better.
