by Ron Bhanukitsiri
What horrible high clouds last night, like looking through a fog filter... :-(.
But, if you like watching planets and you like watching DSO such as open cluster, the TV-102 Light Cup caught a beautiful (rare?) sight last night. Jupiter, its 4 moons and two mag 6 stars formed a perfect "T" shape. The star SAO 78349, Ganymede and star SAO 78348 form the top part of the "T" while Jupiter and its 4 moons form the rest of the "T" shape. Jupiter was right smack in the middle with 2 moons of each side. The GRS was near the CM and seemed be marking the heart of the "open cluster". After staring at it for about an hour, I realized the whole thing resembled a fine jewelry with Jupiter as the accent stone that looks like a topaz! Although transparency was bad, seeing was extremely stable. I could see details and color that gave the impression that the NEB was made of finely crushed garnet gem laced across the planet. Again the wide FOV of my 6mm and 5mm TV Radian (146x and 176x) showed ***all*** of it nicely.
Back to astronomy, question: is the event of Jupiter, its moon and stars forming a shape rare? Eg. have you guys seen this prior to last night? What shape have you seen combining Jupiter, its moons and stars?
Ron B[ee] PS Perhaps, the next few nights, we'll be able to see a "cross" ;-).