Astroblog: Shadow Transit of Io

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Shadow Transit of Io

At last I got some extended time with "Don" the 8" scope. I was also lucky enough to catch an Io Shadow Transit. You can't see Io itself, it's too dim (see Europa for comparison), but the shadow stands out well. This was also given that the conditions were pretty appalling as far as turbulence and wind were concerned. I look forward to a really still night with low turbulence, then we will see what "Don" can do. The animation is here.

I also spent a fair bit of time setting up the polar alignment. It still drift a little bit, but I can take an image, go off and make a coffee, hunt for Vesta with binoculars and STILL Jupiter is in frame. That makes life so much more easy. With a bit more practise I bet I can hit the polar spot much more closely. However, it doesn't help that the mounting sinks a bit into the lawn. This means I probably can never get it spot on.

Labels: Jupiter, Observational Astronomy, transit, webcam

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 9:08 am

Comments:

Hi Ian,
Have you considered using vibration pads for your scope?.I think they could serve 2 purposes.1)They would reduce any vibration that you scope might have and 2)They may spread the weight out enough to give your scope a more stable platform?!.Just a thought!.
Andrew

# posted by