Viewing the Moons of Jupiter
We had an amazing view of the Gallilean Moons of Jupiter last night. It was a lovely, clear, still night and Jupiter could be clearly seen in the South South East, shining brigher than all the stars around it. We could see the Milky Way too, but with a pair of standard binoculars it was also possible to see the four Gallilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
They were seen as four very distinct, clear dots lined up orbiting around Jupiter – right where they should be! There were three to the east as we looked at it and one to the west. Pretty cool stuff. Morgan and Anna had a look but aren’t too good with the binoculars and couldn’t quite make them out, so I quickly grabbed my camera – just a standard SLR wih a zoon lens – and tried to take a photo of it.
Now, it’s not the best photo in the world, but then, it’s actually a photo out of this world. But, even with this you can see Jupiter and it’s moons. If it’s clear tonight, I recommend taking a look. They may only be specks of light in the night sky but when you actually look at them and can see them yourself it somehow means a little more.