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BARBADOS MISSION #2 REPORT 2016

JUNE 4th - 19th, 2016

Above: With my little helper at the telescope on Barbados in June 2016.

With Mars and Saturn both close to opposition and at far southerly declination another trip to my favourite island was once again on the cards if i hoped to obtain any high quality images. I timed my trip to coincide my with most interesting areas of Mars presented Earthward. This also coincided with Saturn very close to opposition and Jupiter high overhead at sundown. This trip also doubled as a family holiday so i was thankful that there were no objects i wanted to observe during the early hours of the morning!

While Mars and Saturn were the main focus of this trip, one main objective was imaging Jupiter at regularly as possible during early evening. NASA's Juno spacecraft was due to arrive at the planet on July 4th and obtaining images of very high quality would be especially useful for the mission scientists.

As things transpired the weather was on the whole very good aside from a few lost nights. I succeeded on all my objectives including obtaining my best ever imagery of Mars and Saturn. I was also able to produce an excellent series of Jupiter images throughout the period including another whole planet map.

Once again its a big thank you to Eric & Louise Norris on Barbados for their help and hospitality during my stay.

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June 18th, 2016. Another session of near perfect seeing conditions. Many storms are visible across the planet along with fine detail within the ring system.

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June 17th, 2016. Near perfect seeing conditions. A wealth of fine detail is recorded.

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June 8th, 2016. Excellent seeing conditions.

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June 15th, 2016. Excellent seeing conditions. Once again many small storms are visible on the disk of the planet.

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June 14th, 2016. Excellent conditions. Various spots are visible within the planets atmosphere. Note the dark spot in the band surrounding the northern polar region at top.

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June 13th, 2016. Good conditions.

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June 11th, 2016. Excellent seeing conditions. Various small storms are visible across the planet. Note the polar hexagon is also clearly seen.

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June 10th, 2016. Good conditions. Note the dark spot on the band surrounding the polar region.

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June 9th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions. Small storms are visible on the planet.

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June 8th, 2016. Good conditions.

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June 5th, 2016. Excellent conditions. The planet just one day past exact opposition. The rings are bright due to the Seeliger effect.

Mars animation 2016

Mars on June 18th, 2016

Mars on June 17th, 2016

Mars on June 16th, 2016

Mars on June 15th, 2016

Mars on June 14th, 2016

Mars on June 13th, 2016

Mars on June 11th, 2016

Mars on June 10th, 2016

Mars on June 9th, 2016

Mars on June 8th, 2016

Mars on June 5th, 2016

Movie of Jupiter during June 2016.

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Map of Jupiter during June 2016. Map of the planet three weeks prior to the JUNO spacecraft arrival.

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Jupiter on June 17th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions. The final image of this apparition. Alongside a snap of the sundown imaging in progress.

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Jupiter on June 16th, 2016. Very good seeing. Io and shadow in transit.

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Jupiter on June 15th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 14th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 13th, 2016. Good seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 12th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 10th, 2016. Excellent seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 9th, 2016. Poor to fair seeing conditions.

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Jupiter on June 8th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions. Oval BA headed off.

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Jupiter on June 4th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions. GRS and Io alongside the planet.

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Jupiter on June 4th, 2016. Very good seeing conditions. The first night of my June stay on Barbados.