Sunday, July 14, 2019

Big Moon and Tiny Jupiter

Can you see tiny Jupiter in the right of this handheld shot? Of course, if this were to scale, the differences would be enormous the other way around. But, perspective is relative, so Jupiter appeared as a tiny bright dot just below and to the right of the moon last night. They will be increasing their separation every night this week so make sure you check them out soon.  If you have binoculars, here is a trick. Put on a baseball hat and go outside. Grab the brim of the hat along with the binos and find Jupiter (the hat helps steady the binoculars to your head). You will see some faint color bands on the planet and a couple of moons. As many as 4 (the same four that Gallieo saw) depending on if any are behind the planet. If you go back in a couple of hours (I now, unlikely) you will see that they have moved relative to the planet. That is how you know they are a moon and not a star in the distant background.)