For the 3rd time in less than 2 years, an amateur recorded an impact on Jupiter.

Amateur videos of the planets are common; because they're bright and large, short exposures can be used to collect some good frames (when the atmosphere steadies momentarily). Planetary imaging is about the cheapest astrophotography, because most imagers use webcams - some modified, but relatively inexpensive.

Still images are produced by tossing the blurry frames and "stacking" the good ones. Typical sessions may accumulate several thousand frames; there are programs to judge frame quality and to discard the worst.

Jupiter is tough to image, because its day is around 10 hours, meaning that the surface features keep moving. In fact, in winter, one can observe an entire Jupiter day in one nightly session.

.

Take a look at Jupiter Wednesday evening.

For the next few weeks, Jupiter will be at it's closest approach to Earth. It will appear large & bright in the night sky, and will be
closely followed by Uranus.

With binoculars or a spotting scope, you might see the colored bands and storms raging in that poisonous atmosphere.

This event will also give you a chance to check out Uranus.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39...y_and_science-space/

quote:

This event will also give you a chance to check out Uranus.

I'm sorry, I still find myself laughing even though it's grammar school humor.

.

I knew someone would be unable to resist that.

But, it was unintentional.

quote:

I knew someone would be unable to resist that.

Probably a few more but lucky for the rest of us, Corey has the guts lol

Too much South Park and Beavis and Butthead will definitely cause permanent harm!

quote:

Originally posted by Kris & Tina Jones:
...lucky for the rest of us, Corey has the guts lol

- - -

Jupiter Loses a Stripe

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...ntists-idea-why.html