JUPITER 2010

By Christopher Go

I have an early start this season with Jupiter.  Jupiter should reach around 80deg here in Cebu!  This year turned out to be a very exciting year.  On June 3, Anthony Wesley and I imaged the first earth detection of a bolide in Jupiter.   The GRS and Oval BA had another conjunction.  The SEB was also fully faded this year.  The SEB revival started on November 9 and I was fortunate to be the first to capture and identify the initial outbreak!

All images were taken using a Celestron C11 mounted on an AP900GTO mount.  A DMK 21BF04 and Point Grey Research Flea3 cameras were used.  RGB is done using a Homeyer Motorized filter wheel.  Methane band images are done using a Custom Scientific Methane Band filter (889nm  18nm bandpass) provided to me by the University of California at Berkeley.  UV images are done using a Schuler UV filter.   Amplification is done using an Astrophysics Convertible Barlow working at 3X.

Image acquisition was done using IC Capture 2.0 and processing done with Registax V5.  All images done after May 21 were capture using the Point Grey Research Flea3 camera and Torsten Edelmann's Firecapture software.  All images are NORTH UP after this date!   The Flea3 is controlled by a Thinkpad T61 through a Firewire B adapter.

I would like to thank Anthony Wesley for helping me get this camera up and running.  Couldn't have gotten it right the first time without him!

These images were taken at Banilad,  Cebu City, Philippines. 

For more information on the names of various belts and zones of Jupiter and the meaning of the abbreviations I use please check the Sky and Telescope Jupiter Observing Guide.

All images of this site are my property.  If you wish to publish it on your site or print, please email me for permission.

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April - June 2010
July-October 2010

Seeing was better this evening.  But  I only had a short window to  image.  I had to deal not only with  the roof of my house but also some clouds.  I imaged when  the sky was  still very bright!

The GRS is setting on the right.  The SEB is already red in this area and it is also very turbulent.   The NEB is dark red and note the dark and white ovals on the NEBn.

Seeing was acceptable this evening.  Although my imaging window is getting narrower and narrower.

Oval BA is prominent in the STB.  It is still red.   The SEBs is dark and wide, while the SEBn is still narrow but there seems to be some features forming there.  The mid-SEB is still white.

The NEB is still dark red.  Note the white oval on the NEB.

Seeing was a little better today. 

This is the area where the outbreak for the SEB revival started.  This region is still very busy.  The NEB is prominently dark red.

Seeing and transparency was very poor.  I now have only a 10 minute window from when I can find Jupiter till it slowly goes under my room.  This window is decreasing everyday as Jupiter gets closer to the sun.  This might be my last week to image Jupiter this season.

The GRS is rising on the left.  Ganymede is the dark feature on the STB.  The dark feature north of the GRS is very prominent.

Imaging is getting more and more difficult now.  Jupiter is just over my roof.  I have only a few days to go to image Jupiter.

The northern edge of the SEB is turning reddish.  But it is only limited on the SEBn/EZ border.  The SEBs is more busy with a lot of activity.  The mid-SEB is still faded in this region.  The NEB is distinctly red.

Finally had a clearing after weeks of rain.  Unfortunately, Jupiter is very close the roof of my house now.  Seeing was terrible.

The GRS can be seen setting on this image.  Note that the northern area of the GRS is very dark.  The Revival material is now interacting with the GRS!  The area around the GRS is also dark.   Io is on the SEB following the GRS.  The area surrounding Io is getting dark now.

The NEB is dark red.

Seeing was horrible this evening.  It was mostly cloudy and I was able to take some images during some breaks in the cloud.  Even then, this was the only good image that came out.

The SEB is very busy at this area.  Note that it is slowly turning red now.  Because of poor transparency, I could take any UV or Methane band images.

The NEB is very red.

Today is the first clear day in over a week.  Seeing was just okay.  I wasn't able to cool my OTA enough because Jupiter is headed closer and closer to the sun.

The SEB outbreak area seem to be turning red now.  The southern portion of the revival is very busy.  The northern part of the revival is just a quiet line. 

The NEB is prominently red.

It was mostly cloudy today.  Transparency was poor but better than two days ago.  Seeing was okay.

Note the southern edge of the SEB is very busy now.  The revival is in full swing.  But it seems that the northern revival is not that vigorous.  Io is transiting the SEB with her shadow following.

The NEB is dark but looks calm.

Transparency was so low today that I had to use only 6fps for the blue channel!

One can make out the Red Oval BA in this image.   The Northern and Southern edge of the SEB is dark while the mid-SEB is still very white in this region.

The NEB is dark with a white oval at the CM.

This is my first image of the year.  Lots of things have happened in between.  My Thinkpad T61 was down because of the dreaded Nvidia GPU failure (all Nvidia GPUs made between 2007-2008 used a bad binder and are prone to failure).  Fortunately, Lenovo was able to fix it for free even if it was out of warranty.  I would like to thank Lenovo and their Cebu service center (run by IBM) for the quick turn around in fixing my laptop!  And as luck would have it, after the laptop was fixed, Cebu had a stationary cold front!!

Seeing was just okay today.  Not great.  But the SEB revival is very prominent now!  The southern branch of the revival has basically encircled the planet and seems very vigorous!   Note the bright outbreaks that are visible.  The mid-SEB is still very quiet despite the very chaotic southern edge!

The NEB is still very dark red. 

I had a good clearing late this afternoon.  I had to do an early imaging because I had to attend a Christmas presentation of my daughters at their school.  Seeing was good but my notebook computer kept crashing on me!

This is the other side of the outbreak from the image I took 2 days ago.  The SEB is slowly clearing up revealing the red belt underneath. 

The NEB is very dark and the EZ festoons seem to be interacting with it.

Condition was good  this evening.  The sky was mostly clear with some thin clouds.  Seeing was variable but good.

The SEB revival is  in full swing.  The dark features has almost circulated around the whole SEB.  At the multiple outbreaks!  The dark material is moving on the southern edge of the SEB west of the outbreak.  Note the large dark red feature rising on the left on the SEBs.  Europa's shadow is the SEBs along the SEB revival area.

The NEB is broad and dark.  The NNTZ has a lot of dark spots lining up!

It was mostly cloudy this evening.  Seeing was okay but transparency was poor.

The GRS is close to the CM.  The northern edge of the SEB is slowly reviving now.  The STB is also dark.  Note the reddish feature on the STB preceding the GRS.

The NEB is dark red.  The NNTZ LRS can be seen in this image.

Seeing was excellent this evening.  That is before clouds rolled in!  I was hoping to catch the SEB revival outbreak area but my run was cut short by clouds.

The SEB Revival Outbreak is not very complex.  The outbreak spots have extended away from it's original position.  The SEB is slowly turning red in some spots.  The revival on the east seem to be following the northern edge of the SEB while the western activity is on the southern edge.   This activity will continue until the whole SEB will become red again.

The EZ and NEB look very busy.  Note the complex interaction between the EZ festoon and the NEB. 

A stationary low pressure area in the northern Philippines brought cloudy skies here in Cebu.   Tonight, there was a clearing and I was able to image between clouds.   Seeing was excellent.

Oval BA is prominent in these images.  It is still red with a white center.  The outbreak dark features can be seen setting on the right.  These are approaching the region of BA.   The NEB is dark in this region.

I wasn't optimistic with sky conditions today.  It was raining at around 7pm.  Surprisingly, there was a clearing at around 7:30pm! I took a chance to image despite the wet ground.  Seeing was good but transparency was variable.

The GRS is very prominent in this image.  The small dark STB ovals are still marching towards the GRS.  The area preceding the GRS seem to be reddish.  The seems to be caused by the interaction of the GRS and the dark STB ovals.  There still seems to be a dark ring surrounding the GRS.

No sign of the SEB revival in this region.  The SEB is still very quiet.  The area north of the GRS looks bright.  The NEB is still dark red.

It was overcast early this evening.  There was a short clearing where I was able to scrape these images.  Seeing was okay but transparency was poor.

Oval BA is rising on the left.  The SEB is quiet in this region.  One can see some of the dark material of the SEB outbreak on the right. 

Note the bright feature on the EZ south of the NEB white spot.    The NEB is dark and broad.

Conditions was variable this evening.  Seeing good sometimes but there were clouds in between.

The outbreak has really grown.  The dark features made by the outbreak has spread more than half the planet!  Note the multiple white spot outbreak.

The NEB is very red with a lot of large dark red ovals.

Condition was very poor this evening.  It was mostly cloudy.  Seeing was terrible and transparency variable.

The SEB outbreak has really grown. There are now a number of outbreak spots and the dark material has spread to almost half the planet.  Unfortunately, Io's shadow is eclipsing part of the outbreak area. 

The NEB  is still dark red in color.

It was again mostly cloudy today.  I was unable to cool my OTA because it was mostly overcast!  But the sky cleared around 7pm.  Transparency wasn't great.

The GRS seems to be "attacked" by the STB ovals.  The southern part of the GRS has a reddish line.  The eastern side of the GRS looks deformed.  The SEB is still quiet at this region. 

The NNTZ LRS can be seen north of the GRS.

It was mostly cloudy this evening.  Seeing was average, but I had to image through thin clouds which made transparency poor.

The outbreak material can be seen setting on the right.  The NEB is very dark red with a lot of activity.  The northern edge of the NTB has some dark red bands.

Seeing and transparency was perfect today. 

The SEB outbreak has become very comples.  In methane band, there is a very bright outbreak.  In visible light, there seems to be a complex of white spots.  The dark feature has extended to almost 1/6th of the planet!   More dark features should appear in the coming days as the SEB  revival unfolds.

The NEB is still very dark.   There is an interesting rift forming on one of the red spots.  At the NNTZ, there is a row of small dark spots!

It was mostly cloudy today.  I wasn't expecting much but the sky cleared while Jupiter was at the zenith.  Seeing was almost perfect and transparency was good.

The GRS stand very lonely at the still white SEB at this region.  The northern edge of the GRS is very bright.  Note the reddish material that seems to be spilling out of the GRS on the preceding side. There is no sign of the chaos of the SEB outbreak on the other side of the planet.  The small dark ovals following the GRS is very prominent.  Oval BA can be seen setting on the first image.

The NEB is still very dark.  The dark festoon is prominent on the EZ.  The NNTZ LRS is very prominent.

It was mostly cloudy this evening.  Transparency was very poor but seeing was acceptable.

The SEB outbreak can be seen setting on the right.  3 bright spots can be made out.  Note the dark trailing material headed towards the direction of the GRS.  This material will get bigger and bigger and will slowly turn red in the coming months reviving the SEB!

The NEB is still very dark.

I wasn't expecting to image this evening.  It was mostly cloudy today and the satellite image did not look good.  At 7pm, it was drizzling.  But when I came out at around 8pm, there was a huge break in the clouds.  I was able to snag some images before the clouds rolled back in.

Oval BA can be seem in this image.  It seems that it is in the leading edge of the STB's recovery.  It is still very red with a small white center.  The GRS can be seen peeking in the left.  The SEB is quiet in this region.  Io floats in stark contrast with the white SEB.

The NEB is very dark red.  The SEB will soon have that color once the revival completes!

Condition was mostly excellent this evening except for some minutes when clouds appeared.

The 3 SEB outbreaks are very prominent.  Note that dark ovals seem to be forming at the area south of the outbreak.  Note the dark features around the outbreak.

The NEB is still very busy.  Note the tiny ovals lining up at the NNTZ.

Seeing good this evening, but transparency was very poor.  I was able to get some images before the clouds rolled in.

Oval BA is still very red.  The area around the GRS is still quiet.  No outbreaks here.   The NEB is dark.

Seeing was variable this evening because I had to image early to catch the outbreak.

As Don Parker pointed out, there are now three outbreaks.  These are very clear in the Methane Band and UV images below.  The NEB is still very busy with the huge dark red ovals.  There is also an outbreak in the NEB  just north the SEB outbreak.

Normally, catching the GRS is the priority when imaging Jupiter.  Not when you have an active outbreak around.  It was mostly cloudy today but I was fortunate to get some clearing with stunning seeing!  It's exactly one week since the start of the outbreak!

In the first image, you can see the GRS and the NNTZ Little Red Spot (LRS) setting.  Note the small dark ovals on the STrZ lining up towards the GRS.

On  the second image, one can see that there are now two outbreaks.  Emil Kraaikamp and Dave Tyler were able to image this 20 hours ago!  Note that the methane band image below confirms that these two features are outbreaks!  The dark feature around the  outbreaks have expanded. 

I had to image early this evening.  Seeing was variable.

Io is transiting the disk of Jupiter.  The SEB is quiet at this region.  Note the disturbance on the EZ affecting the NEB.

Oval BA is rising on the left on the 2nd image.

Seeing and transparency was perfect this evening.  I had another chance to image the SEB outbreak I discovered earlier.

The outbreak is now very bright especially in methane band.  Note the dark feature following the outbreak.   In methane band and UV, the outbreak seems to have an extended "tail".   In visible light, the outbreak still looks like a point source.

Other than this outbreak, the SEB is still very quiet. 

The NEB is very busy.  It is interesting to note that the white oval on the NEBn looks bright in Methane Band and UV.  Note the dark festoon on the EZn.  The activity on the North Temperate Region looks interesting.

I had excellent seeing this evening.  I did have to image in between clouds because it was mostly cloudy today.

Need to take a break from the outbreak.  Here are images of the 3 major redo ovals of Jupiter.  These three are very bright in the methane band.  These are the GRS, Oval BA and the NNTZ LRS.

Oval BA is still very RED.  It seems like the STB is slowly reviving!  With the outbreak that will revive the SEB on the other side of the planet, the GRS stand alone surrounded by the white SEB.  Note that the halo is very bright especially on the northern side.  There is also a dark red ring on the edge of the GRS.

The red ring on the NNTZ LRS is resolved.  The asymmetry of the two hemispheres is striking!  The northern hemisphere is reddish while the south is pale.

I had to image early this evening to catch the outbreak spot in the SEB.   Seeing wasn't great although transparency was much better than yesterday.

The SEB outbreak spot is prominent.  It is bright both in Methane Band the UV!!  This spot should grow bigger in the coming days.

The NEB is still complex.

It was mostly cloudy this evening.  Seeing was excellent but transparency was poor.

Note the bright spot on the SEB rising on the left!  Is this the revival spot? 

The NEB is still very busy.  Lots of activity there!

You can see more info on the SEB revival at my DPS poster.

UPD/ATE:  Don Parker has been able to confirm that the outbreak spot is bright in Methane band!  Below is his image:

Seeing and transparency was very good this evening.

This is the area just before the GRS.  The SEB is blank.  The EZ has complex features.   Note the dark red elongated barge at the NTBn.

Seeing was good this evening but transparency was poor. 

The SEB is still quiet.  No revival yet.  Note the three white ovals on the SSTB.  They seem to be getting closer to each other.  Will they merge?

The EZ looks very busy.  Note that some areas on the EZn are bright  in Methane band.

The NEB has a lot of activity.  Note the large red ovals on the NEB. 

I have not imaged the GRS area for almost a month.  It was mostly cloudy today but it cleared up as Jupiter was close to the zenith.  Seeing was excellent.

Oval BA is prominent.    It is almost fully red now.  The area around BA is messy.

The GRS is very dark with a dark ring on the southern edge.  The SEB is very affected by the GRS. 

The EZ and NEB are very busy.  The NNTZ LRS is very prominent.

Seeing was excellent this evening.  Unfortunately, clouds started rolling in and transparency deteriorated.

The SEB is still very quiet.  The EZ/NEBs complex seem to be associated to the complex rift system on the NEB.  Io is the moon on the right of Jupiter.

Seeing was again excellent this evening. 

The SEB is quiet.  The NEB is very busy.  Note the complex rift on the NEB.  The NTBn looks very interesting.

Seeing was excellent this evening. 

The SEB is still very quiet.  But it does have a pinkish tinge.  The EZ and NEB are very  busy.   The large red ovals seem to be dominating the NEB.

Note the cluster of ovals at the NTB.