It was quite a successful event at Stansbury Park last night despite a last minute band clouds that threatened to cover the triple transit portion of the event. The actual star party was poorly attended (both by public and members) due to the snow and rain in Salt Lake. We viewed the event through the clubs 16" Cassegrain, Patrick's 8" Brandt refractor (w/a binoviewer), Kim Hyatt's 5" Meade refractor & Celestron Ultima, & Siegfried's 8" Clark refractor. Don Colton was also imaging Jupiter using a Phillips ToUcam and Registax. Most people were able to see all three shadows quite easily and Ganymede directly. There were many comments as to how distinct Ganymede appeared against the lighter Jupiter background above the North Equatorial Belt. It took us a while to realize it was not a storm swirl (or even a shadow). Io was the toughest to see sitting itself directly along the NEB. Occasionally the seeing would steady enough to glimpse it's little scallop against the darker band. After the event, several of us headed off to the truck stop for a bite to eat before the drive back home. Dave P.S. Does anyone know if there are ever quadruple shadow transits on Jupiter? On Sunday, March 28, 2004, at 10:45 AM, Michael Carnes wrote:
On the East side of Salt Lake Valley, we had sprinkles all evening with a heavy stretch of rain about 10 PM. I was afraid to put a scope outside to cool down, since there was a strong likelihood of soaking the thing. Gave up about 11, with no indication of clearing ahead. Anybody else have any luck?
Michael
Did anybody have good seeing last night? I saw all three shadows of Jupiter's moons but could only use 100-125X due to mediocre seeing. It seemed that seeing was better around 8:30 to 9:00. I saw very clearly the Great Red Spot around 8:45 then went in the house till 12:45. Also tried to split Epsilon Canis Majoris but only saw a spike from the secondary. I need better conditions for this double.
Debbie