Observing Jupiter from Cyprus

December 21st, 2012 - January 11th, 2013. Souni, Cyprus.

Above: Yours truly pictured alongside the telescope at Souni, Cyprus. Jan 2013.

With Jupiter just past opposition the Christmas holiday period presented an ideal opportunity to visit family on Cyprus and combine a holiday with an opportunity to observe Jupiter for an extended period from a much better location than back home. From 22 possible nights 7 were lost due to poor weather meaning that in total 15 nights of images were obtained.

Unlike Barbados, Cyprus is a mountainous island with hot Summers and cool winters. Its certainly not an island one would chose in hope of frequent good seeing (from near sea level at least) but i had hopes of catching a few good nights during my stay. Seeing varied throughout the period, at times very good and at others so terrible nothing could be done. The weather was mostly cool and unsettled aside from a few brief settled interludes

Overall in terms of seeing conditions the site was fairly average in quality - probably no better than at home (though of course Cyprus has many more clear nights.) With Jupiter at high northern declination meant the planet passed near to the zenith making it ideally placed for observation. Below you'll find the images obtained during the trip.

Damian Peach, Feb 2013.


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Jupiter rotation movie, Dec 2012. A complete rotation of Jupiter from late December 2012.


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The entire face of Jupiter, December 2012. A cylindrical projection map showing the entire face of the planet from late December 2012.


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Jupiter on January 11th, 2013. Pretty good seeing. The GRS and following turbulent region are nicely on view.


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Jupiter on January 10th, 2013. Poor seeing. Io and Ganymede are just moving into a double transit event in the second image.


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Jupiter on January 5th, 2013. Fair to good seeing. Note the bright northern spot in the Methane image. This corresponds to a small red spot in the colour image alongside.


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Jupiter on January 4th, 2013. Good seeing. The GRS and following turbulent region are well seen. Also note the small red spot in the northern hemisphere is on view to the upper left.


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Jupiter on January 3rd, 2013. Good seeing. A rare double shadow transit of Io and Ganymede. Note the different size shadows and corresponding moons alongside the planet.


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Jupiter on January 2nd, 2013. Mostly poor seeing. The region following the GRS is presented. Note the little red spot in the northern hemisphere.


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Jupiter on January 1st, 2013. Poor to fair seeing. The GRS and Oval BA are well placed. Note the array of white ovals passing Oval BA to the south.


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Jupiter on December 31st, 2012. Poor seeing so only Red filter images were obtained. Europa and its shadow are in transit.


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Jupiter on December 30th, 2012. Fair to good seeing. The GRS and following turbulent region is prominent. Note how bright the GRS and Oval BA appear in the Methane filter images as these storms are covered by high altitude ammonia ice.


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Jupiter on December 29th, 2012. Good seeing. The two large ovals on the northern edge of the NEB are the most prominent features. Also plenty of white rifts throughout the NEB itself.


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Jupiter and Saturn on December 27th, 2012. Very good seeing. Oval BA is prominent with the GRS appearing around the limb. Saturn good seeing in the early hours. Note the bright spot visible on the planet.


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Jupiter on December 26th, 2012. Very good seeing. Turbulent disturbed region on the NTB. Note the large ovals on the NEB north edge and white rifts throughout the NEB.


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Jupiter on December 25th, 2012. Fair seeing. The GRS is central with Oval BA headed off.

 


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