Friday 21 April 2017

JUPITER AND MOONS

The brightest 'star' on the top part of the first image is in fact the planet Jupiter. Even if you are not familiar with the night sky, Jupiter’s brightness means that it is very easy to find. Jupiter will be the brightest 'star' (-2.6 magnitude) you can see.

Jupiter is so large (approximately 1,200 Earths by volume) that even a reasonable pair of binoculars will resolve Jupiter as a disc plus show four of its largest ('Galilean') moons. The Galilean moons are the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo Galilei around January 1610. They are by far the largest of the moons of Jupiter. They are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto and derive their names from the lovers of Zeus. However, in total there are 67 confirmed moons of Jupiter!

I took these photos from my bedroom window. The first photo shows Jupiter in the upper centre of the image. For the close up of Jupiter I used a 30X optical zoom as well as an additional 30X digital zoom. Three of the four Galilean moons are visible.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal.




5 comments:

  1. Hello, lovely shots of the night sky and moon! Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  2. Very cool to see Jupiter's moons!! I didn't realize they are visible with some magnification.

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  3. great shots :) I used to be a stargazer but my eyes are not that great anymore.

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  4. I had no idea you could photograph the moons! Well done. I shall have to look for them.

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  5. I thought it was quite a familiar sight! I have the same view from my bedroom on the other side of the world!

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