Mikey Pannier Blog

Fabio Carvalho
Observing Jupiter in May
Jupiter rises well after midnight in early May. At A.M. local daylight time on the 1st, it stands just 7° above the southeastern horizon. By May 31, the situation has improved considerably, with Jupiter 22° high at the same hour. Jupiter lies just east of the familiar "handle" of the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius. The best time to view Jupiter through a telescope comes in the hour before dawn, when the region lies highest in the sky. The planet's disk grows from 41" to 44" across this month, just a little shy of the 47" it will reach at maximum in July.Dark features in the jovian atmosphere show up easily. If this is your first time viewing the giant planet, however, expect the features to be subtle. The dark north and south equatorial belts typically come into view first, but smaller features start to appear with patient viewing. Take your time, and wait for moments when Earth's atmosphere steadies - what astronomers call "good seeing." These periods tend to be fleeting, but they're worth the wait.Just as obvious to any Jupiter viewer are its four moons. Each glows bright enough to show up in the smallest telescope, even at low magnification. These moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — wander around Jupiter with their orbits edge-on to our view. Their back-and-forth motions carry each one in front of and behind the great planet. Watching the moons disappear behind the planet, or their shadows transit the giant globe, ranks among the top solar system sights.Fabio Carvalho imaged the planet from Centro de Estudos do Universo in Brotas, Brazil, April 24, 2008.