Topic: OT: Turning into Astrobeck for an instant

[Francois]

Well, it' something I checked out last night after a call from a friend and it's totally mesmerizing.
For the first time in 50 some years, planet Jupiter is the closest to the earth.

If you look in the direction of sunrise (east) in the early evening after sunset, you will notice a big fat star. If you look closely with binoculars, you will see it is not a star (stars remain as points) but something closer.

Last night, with my binoculars and some close examination (bracing myself against my van to reduce movement), I've been able to see three of its moons!

Motionless in the sky... just there.

Lets just say it was great

[Mojave]

Sheesh! 3 moons with the binocs? Ok, Im going to have to break out the telescope and try to get some shots. Cant find my pentax adapter so I might have to go digital but what the heck, I'd love to get some pix and I have very little light pollution where I live. Thank you for the tip! I'd been seeing that and wondering if it was Venus.

[Francois]

Here's the big explanation with all the details from Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=telescopes-out-earth-making-its-clo-2010-09-17

[astrobeck]

It's not such an impossible thing to photograph.....Jupiter as a stellar point in the sky at night.

Camera on tripod, f/4  ISO 400-800 for a few seconds will capture a scenic "landscape" shot of it with the Moon on Wednesday night--- should be nice!