[AZ-Observing] Daytime Jupiter Sighting
- From: Tom Polakis <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, amastro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 19:24:43
I am just getting in from viewing Jupiter in the daytime sky. It was
located about 7 degrees to the lower left of the moon, which provided
something in an otherwise blank sky for naked-eye focusing. It was also in
the polarization band 90 degrees from the sun. Thanks to Alister Ling for
getting me started on this a long time ago.
At what point does an observation become cheating? I began with 10x30mm
image-stabilized binoculars, which showed Jupiter about a half hour before
sunset. Then I pointed my telescope in the same area, finding it in its
8x50mm finderscope. From there I turned the Telrad up to full brightness,
and memorized the position in the bullseye. Then I used a 67mm circular
polarizer rotated to the optimal position, which darkened the sky
dramatically. 15 minutes before sunset, Jupiter became visible through the
polarizer. Only in the last five minutes before sunset did it become
visible without the aid of the polarizer.
All of this begs the answerable question: how did the ancient Chinese
astronomers miss Jupiter in the daytime sky?
Tom
--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
send personal replies to the author, not the list.
Other related posts:
