Jupiter has a new storm outbreak in the Northern hemisphere which is causing some excitement for Jupiter fans. The planet is still quite good to image this month, appearing high overhead and still quite large. The storm is best seen in Infrared (IR) and specifically the Methane band however you would need a very sensitive camera to do this.
Dr Andy Casely sent us this image of the storm using the ZWO ASI 462MC which is a colour camera, however IR will actually bypass the RGB colour matrix on the camera, essentially turning it into a monochrome camera which is interesting. The newer CMOS colour cameras are getting quite good at this trick.
And if you don’t have a good enough telescope and camera setup to capture something like this – don’t worry! Jupiter has another surprise.
On the 25th of this month it will appear only a degree or two way from the Moon (3 if you are in WA) during the daytime which means if you’re eyes are up to the challenge, you can see Jupiter in the day. Using binoculars first to find it near the Moon then see if you can spot it with your own eyes. It will look like a small star, except on a blue sky! (Picture not to scale, but as a location reference.)
Clear skies,
The Bintel Team.