12-3-22:
7:30 – 7:45 PM; AVERAGE seeing; 120/1020mm (
Jupiter – The usual North and South Equatorial Belts (with raggedy edges) were clearly visible, along with the North Polar Region. The South Temperate Belt was visible as well, but the North Temperate Belt was not. The South Polar Region was practically invisible.
9:30 – 9:40 PM; AVERAGE to POOR seeing; 102/1000mm (
Jupiter – 2 hrs. later, I brought out the 4” 'frac. It looked like the planet’s fast rotation (once every 10 hrs.) was bringing out new features. The South Equatorial Belt was showing two darker bands within it, with a lighter zone in-between. Only a portion of the South Temperate Belt was showing this time. The North Polar Region was now showing what appeared to be the NN Temperate Belt within the Region, but strangely, no North Temperate Belt visible. Unfortunately, the air got heavier and the planet began to boil, so I ended the session.
Didn’t detect the
Overall, it looked like the 'frac gave sharper views as well as bringing out more surface detail (despite the false color fringing), but the difference could be attributed to better seeing conditions later in the evening (for a brief time at least) and the more detailed features that came into view with the planet's rotation. Need to do a side-by-side observing comparison between the two.
Despite observing only one planet, it was a very satisfying session.