"I just wrote a science report on the Galilean moons", said a teenage boy as he eagerly stepped up the ladder last night.
The Galilean moons were arrayed in a beautiful formation last night, Saturday, December 23rd. A triangle led by Ganymede with Callisto and Europa closer to the planet pointed away from Jupiter. Io was alone on the other side of Jupiter. But not for long.
Soon Io was out of sight as it rotated in front of the planet. At the time we weren't sure if Io would transit or be occulted by Jupiter. But an hour later we knew where Io went. A tiny speck of black was visible on either the north equatorial band or the south equatorial band. A shadow transit! What a surprise to show a group of passers-by! I was too busy explaning things or pointing the telescope to make a drawing or a note, but I think it was the north equatorial band, as I recall lots of red clumpy knotty spots nearby.
The steady Florida air made for a rock solid and crisp view of the planets last night. A riot of detail was visible at 125X using a 16mm Nagler on our F5.75 reflector. The planet view lingered in the eyepiece long enough for a couple people to view before Mojo or I had to climb the ladder to make a slight nudge-nudge adjustment. No one was rushed, and we made sure that everyone got a good view of the planets.
Back and forth we went, from the drama of Jupiter, with its swirling storms and moons and moon shadows, to majestic Saturn, showing 4 to 6 moons, depending on the seeing at the moment. The Cassini divivion was visible to all viewers who took the time to look for it. Many keen observers could see the subtle bands on Saturn too. The moons Tethys, Dione and Rhea made a nice triangle above the planet with lonely Titan at 4 o'clock. It's nice to have the moon names of the tiny dots that people see at the eyepiece.
Each night of our vacation we've stayed a little longer out on the sidewalk. There are lots of people out there. And it's planet season, after all.
Jane Houston Jones
Stardate: 12/23/00 7-10PM EST
Starplace: Sarasota, Florida
27.336 -82.531