Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - 30 Oct 2013

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Gary
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Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - 30 Oct 2013

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For those who enjoy reading the long-winded blog version, please go to: http://www.astro.sg/2013/09/solar-eclip ... world.html

For the rest, this is the most important part of that blog:

**********************************************

A few pointers before we look at the data extracted from WinJUPOS:

(1) For the month of October in Singapore, Jupiter rises above the horizon at about 1:41 am on 1 October. It rises earlier and earlier everyday and by 31 October, rises at about 11:52pm.
(2) Under clear sky conditions, it is possible to observe Jupiter until at least 7am in Singapore in October. Of course, pre-dawn dark sky is more preferable compared to the brighter bluish twilight skies.
(3) If the shadow transits happens when Jupiter is high up in the dark sky, the view will be potentially clearer and less distorted assuming everything else remain the same.
(4) Shadows that are very near the edges of Jupiter may be difficult to spot due to curvature of spherical object like Jupiter.

Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter in October 2013 in Universal Time (UT)
(Credit: WinJUPOS 10.0.21)

2013/10/01 13:42 - 14:07
2013/10/05 02:39 - 03:24
2013/10/08 15:35 - 16:43
2013/10/12 03:25 - 06:01 (triple shadow transits!)
2013/10/15 17:28 - 19:20
2013/10/17 11:57 - 13:28
2013/10/19 06:25 - 08:38
2013/10/22 19:22 - 21:34
2013/10/24 14:30 - 16:03
2013/10/26 08:37 - 10:31
2013/10/29 21:56 - 23:28

Converting these timings to Singapore Standard Time (+8 UT) (Visible from Singapore =Yes/No):

Tue -- 01 Oct -- 21:42 -- 22:07 -- [No]
Sat -- 05 Oct -- 10:39 -- 11:24 -- [No]
Tue -- 08 Oct -- 23:35 -- 24:43 -- [No]
Sat -- 12 Oct -- 11:25 -- 14:01 -- [Triple!] [No! Oh-No]
Wed -- 16 Oct -- 01:28 -- 03:20 -- [Yes] - [Duration = 1hr 52min]
Thu -- 17 Oct -- 19:57 -- 21:28 -- [No]
Sat -- 19 Oct -- 14:25 -- 16:38 -- [No]
Wed -- 23 Oct -- 03:22 -- 05:34 -- [Yes] - [Duration = 2hr 12min]
Thu -- 24 Oct -- 22:30 -- 24:03 -- [No]
Sat -- 26 Oct -- 16:37 -- 18:31 -- [No]
Wed -- 30 Oct -- 05:56 -- 07:28 -- [Yes] - [Duration = 1hr 32min]

Some implications from these multiple shadow transit data for October 2013:

(1) Super rare Triple Shadow Transit on 12 October not visible from Singapore! So if you really keen to see this, plan to go overseas to the other side of Earth in advance!
(2) Three double shadow transits visible in Singapore - 16th , 23rd and 30th. Three chances to catch at least one of them.
(3) All three double shadow transits falls on a Wednesday early morning before sunrise. Easy to remember - last three Wednesdays of October.
(4) To be able to see Jupiter's Great "Red" Spot (GRS) during multiple shadow transits is a rare visual bonus. Unfortunately, GRS is not visible for these shadow transits visible in Singapore.
(5) 15 Oct is a public holiday (Hari Raya Haji). Get plenty of sleep on that day so you can stay awake for the shadow transits on early morning of 16th.
(6) Duration of multiple shadow transits can be very short - e.g. one egressing out of Jupiter a few minutes after the ingress of the other. For these shadow transits in October 2013, they are much longer on average - more than one hour! Plenty of time to observe with diferent telescopes and accessories, take photos/videos and socialise with other stargazers!

Here are some screen captures from WinJUPOS showing some interesting framing for visual or imaging purposes during these three shadow transit periods:

Image
Wed 16 Oct 2013

Image
Wed 23 Oct 2013

Image
Wed 30 Oct 2013

I will provide more details in October closer to these shadow transit dates. In the meantime, you may use your favourite planetarium software or phone app to find more detailed information - e.g. each moon/shadow exact ingress and egress timings. Now that you have plenty of time to prepare yourself to witness these celestial wonders, go get a telescope soon or befriend an amateur astronomer! :)
Last edited by Gary on Tue Oct 29, 2013 8:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
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Clifford60
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by Clifford60 »

Gary, thanks for the effort in providing the information.

All big guns in Sg will be working on those days. :mrgreen: :mryellow:
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by bornfree »

clouds clouds go away, come again another day, we want to deploy telescopes!

what are the chances to see all 4 moons casting shadown on jupiter?
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by antares2063 »

Unlucky why none of them falls over weekend or Friday night...the hari raya one seems most promising
I miss the place where stars shine bright, to gaze upwards in awe of the sight
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by Gary »

bornfree wrote:what are the chances to see all 4 moons casting shadown on jupiter?
According to Kepler, zero. :)
antares2063 wrote:Unlucky why none of them falls over weekend or Friday night...the hari raya one seems most promising
30th Oct not bad too. Wake up around 6am+ still have a chance to catch it before going to work/school. Set up the telescope before going to bed to minimise deployment time after waking up.
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"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by Gary »

Triple shadow transit + GRS happening soon. Not visible from SG. :(

Image
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"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by Gary »

Triple shadow + GRS photo taken by Oscar Martín Mesonero in Spain!

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_up ... d_id=87818
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"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by bornfree »

beautiful~~~
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Re: Multiple Shadow Transits on Jupiter - Oct 2013

Post by Sandeep10 »

Any observation/s happening tonight..?
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Double Shadow Transits on Jupiter - 16 Oct 2013

Post by Gary »

Source: http://www.astro.sg/2013/10/double-shad ... er-16.html

Double Shadow Transits on Jupiter - 16 Oct 2013

Today is Tuesday 15 Oct 2013, hereby wishing all Muslims Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha!

As mentioned in my previous blog, there are 3 double shadow transits visible from Singapore this month.

The first such occurrence is happening in about 10 hours from now. These are all in Singapore Standard Time which is 8 hours ahead of Universal Time. (Source: WinJUPOS 10.0.21)

Date: Wednesday 16 October 2013
Time: 01:28am - 03:20am
Location of Jupiter: East North East (ENE)
Jupiter rising above horizon: 00:48 am (16 Oct 2013)

The 2 shadows will be casted by 2 moons of Jupiter - Io and Europa

Europa Shadow Transit: 00:43am - 03:19am
Io Shadow Transit: 01:28am - 03:40am

Jupiter will not rise higher than 40° during this double shadow transit. Not the best highest position to catch this transit but good enough if the weather co-operates.

For the past few days weather has not been kind. As I am blogging about this now, sky is a little bluish after a heavy downpour earlier this morning. Jupiter only takes up a very small spot in the sky. You just need that spot to be clear enough even for a short while during this shadow transit period to enjoy a view that few on Earth knows about, let alone seeing it!

Some interesting thing to do for such shadow transits:

- Take photos and videos and show your friends what they missed! :)
- Observe Io and Europa getting very very close to Jupiter before "disappearing" in front of its glare. It will look like a small white "pimple"on Jupiter.
- Usually we see can see 4 moons of Jupiter as 4 dots surrounding a bright disc. Tonight, 2 of them is going to "disappear". Leaving the other 2 (Callisto and Ganymede) roughly at equal distance on each side of Jupiter.
- Take precise measurements on the entrance and exit of Io and Europa and they shadows on Jupiter. Then compare with your astronomical apps and software and see how accurate they are.
- Jupiter is a sphere. So the shadows casted on it will not be perfectly round black dots, especially near the limbs of Jupiter. See if you manage to observe that under high enough magnification through telescopes.
- Use this opportunity to test the capabilities of your binoculars, telescopes and photographic gear.
- Observe it with your family and friends to make it an even more memorable outing!

Weather permitting, due to the early morning hours, I should be observing it alone or with my friends. Follow my tweets to find out if luck is on our side! Tweet #JupiterSG if you are observing this event too!

For those who are keen to shoot and have no access to telescopes, just give it a try with whatever camera and zoom lenses you have. Mount them on a stable tripod and shoot Jupiter. Even if you can't capture the black dots, you can try time-lapse photography and frame all the 4 moons and Jupiter together. You may create a nice video showing these 2 moons "disappearing/appearing".

So good luck, clear skies and stay awake everybody!!
http://www.astro.sg
email: gary[at]astro.sg
twitter: @astrosg


"The importance of a telescope is not how big it is, how well made it is.
It is how many people, less fortunate than you, got to look through it."
-- John Dobson.
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