sloth v2.5
09Feb2004 | 16:01Back | Forth
Mood: optimistic
Sounds: whistling wind in the trees

by Jove, where's Saturn?!

© 2004 mighty jupiter ascends the night sky

i was outside last night for a short time, attempting to get some nice photos of Saturn while there were still no clouds to obscure it. i checked Your Sky to find the position of Saturn before i went outside. unfortunately, i mixed up the symbols for Saturn and Jupiter, and ended up with a half dozen images of Jupiter instead of Saturn. i should have known this as soon as i saw how bright "Saturn" was... Jupiter is almost two magnitudes brighter! duh!

anyway, after i reviewed the images, i noticed that there were two small light sources on either side of Jupiter's disc. i checked a few other star charts, both online and paper versions, to see what they were. i couldn't seem to find another two stars in those exact positions, so perhaps i caught two of the Galilean moons. i'm not sure, and it might be too cloudy tonight to confirm what i saw. if it was two of the big four, i'm betting on Europa and Ganymede. Io is a bit too small, and Callisto is a bit too dark. the albedos of Europa and Ganymede might be high enough for my camera to have picked out. maybe.

anyway, if it isn't too cloudy tonight, i'm going to try getting some images of Saturn again. Jupiter is kinda close to Luna, so the scattered light messes with the exposure. Saturn is farther away, which is good, cause it's also a lot dimmer. so we'll see...

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