The Transit of Ganymede

[John Donne]

The Ganymede transit

September 5 2021, 2000hr
September 6, 2021 0130hr
Transparency Average
Seeing Average
Humidity intermittent and troublesome but fortunately resulted in no consequent dew factor on my rig. I kept my EP box closed.

Arrived at Penfield, 40.30 Lat, 87.94 long, to set up in early twilight.

Image of sky upon arrival attached.

There were more people at this site last night than I have ever seen before. 17 cars I counted.
Light discipline was non existent so my dark sky adaptation was never really achieved until about 2230 hr.
There were folks who had traveled quite a distance to view the stars here…some from Missouri, one from Indiana, several from Chicagoland and Naperville. Several had taken rooms in Motels in Paxton, Rantoul, or Urbana. One couple who did not own a car had rented a Buick to make the trip from Chicago.

The gentle lady from Missouri arrived alone in her green Ford 150 bearing a small Nikon DSLR. She had come to photograph the milky way which I happily pointed out to her with my laser pointer as it swept out of Sagittarius over our heads and into Cassiopeia. She was quite happy and I am sure that although the Milky Way had not the sparkle I have often seen its arms were well defined in a cloudy form from which she will have some satisfying captures in her little Nikon.

Another young man and his friend had brought a sky tracker camera mount; the brand I did not catch. He had mounted to a Nikon D7. He was also after Milky Way images.

The Young Couple next to me had a new, 3 months old…used once, Skywatcher 8 inch f6 collapsible dob. It was rather small it seemed to me…short that is. It was not in my opinion a tool to use with its base on the ground. It needed a riser of some kind for my pleasure. The EP was only 40 inches off the ground which necessitated a lot of uncomfortable kneeling…
This couple were very nice as well as enthusiastic and it was a pleasure to fellowship with them there and share views.

For the first two hours I carried on one long conversation as small groups came round to my set up to ask questions or partake in a view of Jupiter, Saturn or Andromeda.
I held court around the ES152 and regaled these fine folks with stories of Astronomical Adventure replete with stalking coyote, wandering black bear, and the Solar eclipse of 2017.

It was really a good time. I was able to answer many good, basic questions about our hobby and my equipment.

The level of transparency and darkness were proved out by my ability to resolve M33 even though it was faint and ill defined. It was in fact one of the least satisfying views of M33 I have had, but I will not seriously complain. It served its purpose for me in my measure of the sky.

Astrobee suggested Sculptor as a target which I was enthusiastic about but unfortunately it never rose above the southern line of trees on that horizon.

I resolved a number of faint objects.
M77, 02h43m, 00, 05’, was resolved with averted vision quite low on the horizon.
M32, M31, M30, M75 and others unlisted…mostly dim dusty globs and a few Galaxies as well…nothing very exciting. I viewed about 25 objects of this type but only wrote down 16 in my note book.

BUT THEN

Then I discovered that Ganymede was transiting Jupiter I had finally a hook to hang my time card on.

I could write a lot of words but I would rather post my sketches with the times for you to view.


The transit was an ongoing event to which I returned regularly not only for myself but for the viewing of the many folk who were still frequenting my telescope and enjoying views they had never had before.

Peace and clear skies to you all.
Mark

[SpyderwerX]

Wonderful report, Mark! And it seems as if a wonderful night was enjoyed. I witnessed a bit of the transit myself until the conditions got a bit choppy with a front pushing in.

[turboscrew]

Nice sketches. Sounded like a fun trip.

[Makuser]

Hello again Mark. Nice photos of the evening sky and I remember all of those cities that you mentioned from when I lived in Momence, IL and had a large service route each day. Thanks for your enjoyable report and nice sketches of the Ganymede transit Mark, and I am glad that you were also able to use this opportunity for some great astronomy outreach work.

[helicon]

Nice report and sketches Mark, very interesting to see the progress of Ganymede across the face of Jupiter. And it sounds like a good time was had by all during the session. Congrats Mark on winning the VROD for today.

[John Donne]

Thank you Michael.
The outing was satisfying in many ways.
And thank you for honoring me with the VROD !

[Bigzmey]

Great report and sketch Mark! Nice that you managed to see not just the shadow but Ganymede itself to.

[John Donne]

Great report and sketch Mark! Nice that you managed to see not just the shadow but Ganymede itself to.

Thank you Andrey.
In the beginning I did not realize that I was seeing ganymede actual. I noticed a small bright spot on jupiter but thought it was from telescope optics. The color belts on jupiter were somewhay obliterated where the bright spot revealed. It was not untill I noticed the slightly brighter stop move as the black dot moved that I concluded that I was seeing ganymede also but not in a recognizable disc form. As the transit progressed the color banding became more refined untill finally the banding popped into resolve.
It was enjoyable to observe the complete traverse of ganymede.

Thank you again Andrey.

[Lady Fraktor]

Very nice Mark, good that you could enjoy the views and help out other as well.

[John Donne]

Very nice Mark, good that you could enjoy the views and help out other as well.

Thank you Lady Fractor !

I think I enjoy the "outreach", unintended though it may have been, as much as observing. It did interrupt my plans and took me nearly to my energy limit, but the interaction and enthusiasm I observed in these groups invigorated me.

I was glad when I discovered the transit because it gave me another set of instructable moments. We even talked about early longitude navigation using Jupiter's moons. Several of these folks commented that they did not realize there was so much to interest them in observing the night sky.

Even instruction with binocular use came into play. I pointed to objects with the lazer and folks could find the beam and follow it to the object. Thus it was great fun to observe the observers.

It was a very good time for me. This site was a favorite on which my old friend Henry and I often converged.

Thank you again for your encouragements and the many instructions and advices you have given me over these years in the forums !

Blessings to you, and clear skies !

[kt4hx]

Excellent outing and report Mark, and a well deserved VROD. Great job on both the shadow and disk as it transited. Sounds like a good outing was had by many as well. The folks with the 8 inch dob could use an observing chair, such as the Starbound. Being seated works quite well with the 8 to 12 inch dobs.

[John Donne]

Excellent outing and report Mark, and a well deserved VROD. Great job on both the shadow and disk as it transited. Sounds like a good outing was had by many as well. The folks with the 8 inch dob could use an observing chair, such as the Starbound. Being seated works quite well with the 8 to 12 inch dobs.

Yes Alan.
I thought the same thing. But I am very careful to avoid being a critic of another observers kit while under the sky. I stay on the +side. If asked I will gladly give comment. These folks were enjoying themselves so much. They saw and used my observing chair when we shared views. They probably have the idea now.
They will be back...I hope to see them again.

Thank you Alan.

[Butterfly Maiden]

Great report there Mark and congratulations on the VROD.

I am sure your captive audience really appreciated your insight.

P.S. Did you manage to get a sneaky reference to you being a member of TSS and that we would love for them to join us?

[John Donne]

Great report there Mark and congratulations on the VROD.

I am sure your captive audience really appreciated your insight.

P.S. Did you manage to get a sneaky reference to you being a member of TSS and that we would love for them to join us?

Thank you V.
As a matter of fact, now you ask, I did talk about the forum recommending it to everyone who visited with me.

[John Baars]

Great report of your outreach!
I suppose all of you enjoyed it very much.
I sure enjoyed the reading. Very nice!
Very much worth of the VROD!
Fortunately the bigger or darker moons of Jupiter like Genymede and Callisto can be tracked across the planet during their transition. Luckily you had your 152 mm refractor with you!