jupiter out now

[mostsmooth]

this is a public service message.
if anybody is going outside, you can get a good look at jupiter and its moons for a while. looks like a big giant star in the eastish sky.
of course you can see saturn too, but jupiter is a little better unaided. i swear i can see jupiters moons with just my eyeglasses, but its probably just my imagination.

[mostsmooth]

its gone now, not that anybody cared.
it will be back tonight 1130-1200ish

[billygrippo]

PST? i wana see it.

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
this is a public service message.
if anybody is going outside, you can get a good look at jupiter and its moons for a while. looks like a big giant star in the eastish sky.
of course you can see saturn too, but jupiter is a little better unaided. i swear i can see jupiters moons with just my eyeglasses, but its probably just my imagination.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never experienced it, but I believe it is not all that unusual to see the Gallilean moons of Jupiter with the unaided eye with good viewing conditions.

[mostsmooth]

[ QUOTE ]
PST? i wana see it.

[/ QUOTE ]
should be the same, unless im retarted?

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
PST? i wana see it.

[/ QUOTE ]
should be the same, unless im retarted?

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty close, depending on how close PST is to actual ilocal time at his location. I'm in Denver, where MST is local mean solar time, for all practial purposes. PST is mean solar time for 120 degrees W.

[miajag]

I think people with like 20/15 or better vision can see the outer Galilean moons, so if your vision is that good with glasses it's not too surprising. Supposedly you can also see Venus as a crescent rather than just a point.

[billygrippo]

[ QUOTE ]
I think people with like 20/15 or better vision can see the outer Galilean moons, so if your vision is that good with glasses it's not too surprising. Supposedly you can also see Venus as a crescent rather than just a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

i ahve 20/15 vision. omg i cant wait for this.

[miajag]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think people with like 20/15 or better vision can see the outer Galilean moons, so if your vision is that good with glasses it's not too surprising. Supposedly you can also see Venus as a crescent rather than just a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

i ahve 20/15 vision. omg i cant wait for this.

[/ QUOTE ]

That doesn't necessarily mean you WILL be able to see them. Sky conditions have to be pretty much perfect and the moons have to be at a point in their orbit where they appear to be distant from the planet.

[FlFishOn]

I'd be surprised. The brightness of Jupiter (-2 mag) washes out any moon (6th mag). The whole show can be seen in steady binoculars.

[miajag]

FlFish,

I have never seen any of the moons with the naked eye but it's pretty well established that Ganymede as well as maybe Callisto are visible under ideal conditions for people with excellent eyesight.

[mostsmooth]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think people with like 20/15 or better vision can see the outer Galilean moons, so if your vision is that good with glasses it's not too surprising. Supposedly you can also see Venus as a crescent rather than just a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

i ahve 20/15 vision. omg i cant wait for this.

[/ QUOTE ]
i hope youre not getting too excited, its not like youre going to see craters or anything. they will be little specks if you see them at all. of course if you have binos or a scope, youll be better off. somebody here recommended binoculars to me, and i would like to relay that recommendation. binos are pretty awesome to check out the night sky.

[itslog1]

yes that's true. my astronomy teacher recommended using binoculars to the amateur astronomer.

[mostsmooth]

[ QUOTE ]
PST? i wana see it.

[/ QUOTE ]
did you see it?

[mostsmooth]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think people with like 20/15 or better vision can see the outer Galilean moons, so if your vision is that good with glasses it's not too surprising. Supposedly you can also see Venus as a crescent rather than just a point.

[/ QUOTE ]

i ahve 20/15 vision. omg i cant wait for this.

[/ QUOTE ]
nows your chance again
venus is coming up now too 430am-ish

[billygrippo]

the sky has been overcast/cloudy for the last week /images/graemlins/frown.gif

also it was snowing so the sky was a bright red and the stars i could see were very dim.

[mostsmooth]

theres some free software that i like a lot here: download the basic package (http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/download.html)
i think the basic package is all i downloaded once upon a time. once you enter your location, it will show the sky at your site. youll need to mess around with it for a little while to get use to all the features, but its not that hard.