Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

Wednesday, 1 November 2023 17:00

Monday 6th to Sunday 12th November 2023

It looks like next week is going to be "Jupiter Week" as there are several things to spot with your telescope on what is the largest planet in our Solar System.....that's if the weather plays ball!

Firstly, from 10.20pm on the evening of Monday 6th, the Galilean moon Io transits the gas giant planet. Underneath Io itself, you may be able to see the shadow that it casts on Jupiter's surface. Around that time, Jupiter will be nicely placed towards the south east and very easy to spot because it is so bright.

Then from around 6pm on Friday 10th it is Ganymede's turn to transit the planet. Because it is earlier in the evening, Jupiter will be located more to the east.

The transit will be finished by 7.45pm so then you could turn your telescope southwards to take a look at Saturn's rings.

Finally, Saturday 11th around 8.45pm is an optimum time to observe the Great Red Spot on Jupiter's surface. Again, Jupiter will be easy to spot towards the south east, a little to the right of the Pleiades open cluster of stars.

The Great Red Spot is actually a storm in Jupiter's atmosphere that has been blowing for over 350 years with wind speeds up to 270 miles per hour. It is about the same size as the whole of our Earth and appears to rotate around Jupiter every ten hours. And you thought we had it bad!

www.starsoversomerset.com
Great Red Spot - Earth Comparison image courtesy of Wikipedia
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
Copyright Adrian Dening and Radio Ninesprings 2023