5th Bright star within the Jovian System ???

[Orly198d]

I've been observing Jupiter's moons for the last week for a kids project, and last night notice after not observing since Friday, saw a 5th bright ??Star?? within the 4 main Moons, I know there are 62 Moons altogether but this was very bright as bright as I-IV, what gives what was it ?? Is it a seasonal Moon or was a Star in perfectly lined up next to the main 4 Moons, I don't know. It'll be up tonight, I'll double check but I am not crazy, I without a doubt was looking at 3 on the upper right hand side and two underneath to the left of Jupiter (through the telescope so inverted I guess) but yeah anyone..................?????

 

[crazyeddie]

I've been observing Jupiter's moons for the last week for a kids project, and last night notice after not observing since Friday, saw a 5th bright ??Star?? within the 4 main Moons, I know there are 62 Moons altogether but this was very bright as bright as I-IV, what gives what was it ?? Is it a seasonal Moon or was a Star in perfectly lined up next to the main 4 Moons, I don't know. It'll be up tonight, I'll double check but I am not crazy, I without a doubt was looking at 3 on the upper right hand side and two underneath to the left of Jupiter (through the telescope so inverted I guess) but yeah anyone..................?????

Only the 4 Galilean moons are easily visible with telescopes commonly available to non-professional astronomers, so it must have been a star in perfect alignment.

Unless, of course, it's the light from an alien starship's fusion drive, on a mission to our sun's biggest planet.....

 

[Orly198d]

Yeah that was the first initail thought but it was really in line with the real 4. I think it was larger and farther out that Calisto, but not at all out of the range of the real Moons it was about equal distance away as the farthest Moon Calisto, but was perfectly aligned with the Moons, and I'm using a 6" Relfector so it was not a glarew or faint something it was there bright as all the rest, right in line. So if it is a random star that the sysyem just so happened to pass through last night, it will NOT therre tonight, right ???

 

[MeteorWayne]

Can't really answer that without knowing what date, time and time zone you were observing from.

Can you supply that info?

Then we can figure it out.

Try this, it's the most likely object:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 72127.html

"But by amazing good luck, 45 Cap will be masquerading as a fifth moon during a particularly eventful period for Jupiter's Galilean moons. So weather permitting, every telescope owner on Earth will have a chance to see many fascinating events during the days before and after the occultation"

 

[Orly198d]

Ok, August 2nd 10:45 pm Central Time Zone America (South Texas), I'm telling you it didn't look like a star that was randomly placed within the system it looked as if it belonged side by side with I-IV. Let me know what you find maybe I can add it to my presentation. THANKS !!!!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well it may not have looked like it, but that's what it was

Are you suggesting a star in the background is not permitted to align with the moons?

 

[Orly198d]

No, No, not that at all, but am just AMAZED at how prefect it looked. I mean if you'd never seen the system until last night and were asked how many Moons did you count you would easliy say 5 no doubt, that's awesome, like the
article said what a time to be observing Jupiter. We've got the two visible transits at two different times this month, and now this imposter Star, awesome !!!! Hey now that I've got you, I've been looking for the "impact zone" from the other day and with the inversion flip, I am foccusing on both the Northern and Southern Hemis. because I am not sure which side to focus in on, if these lines represent the (bands // through) my eyepiece which side is North ?? The "bands" side or the "through" ?? I think it's the "through" side but I don't know.

 

[MeteorWayne]

If you look at the map that S&T posted, you can see that if you looked at the right time it would be perfectly aligned with the moons. That's when you looked!

 

[CalliArcale]

Dang, I'm jealous. ;-) We have had sunny skies in the day and cloudy evenings, so I am missing out. I tell ya, the weather is TAUNTING me!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Tell me about it. My last meteor observing night was January 3rd :ugeek:

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

Not sure about only 4 moon's able to be seen... well then again I have a 10" F5 which isn't a bad scope. The main ones are VERY visible and though I have yet to buy stronger eye pieces greater than my 10 & 26mm, I'm sure more moons would come into view just with a 2X or a 3X Barlow.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Until you get into much bigger telescopes, only the 4 Galilean moons are visible. They range in size from 3100-5260 km. The next largest is Almathea which is only 250x128 km and is very close to the planet. Too faint and too close to the Jovian glare.

With a decent sized scope, you can actually see more moons of Saturn

 

[CalliArcale]

A while back, with my meager 130mm Newtonian, I saw Titan. It was a fantastic moment for me; the first time I'd seen it and known what I was looking at. It took me by surprise, and was quite magical.

 

[xXTheOneRavenXx]

When it comes to Saturn, you should be able to see lapetus, Rhea, Titan, Dione and Tethys. You can also catch a glimps of Enceladus & Mimas. I believe the last chance I had to use my friends scope (which is identical to mine except he has the EQ 6 Equitorial mount, auto tracking, etc... *drools* lol) a couple of yrs ago I could see these ones with his scope. I know there were seven. However the other was a blur. I can only assume it to have been Pheobe, but not sure now. Like I said, it's been a couple of years. But he had a nice set of Plossol's too and his 2X barlow.

Our tubes have an 11 (and a bit) inch diameter Wayne. (Prim mirror approx 10 inch, with approx 2 1/2 inch sec mirror) Quite the nice build. I'd recommend a home build to anyone.

 

[crazyeddie]

Not sure about only 4 moon's able to be seen... well then again I have a 10" F5 which isn't a bad scope. The main ones are VERY visible and though I have yet to buy stronger eye pieces greater than my 10 & 26mm, I'm sure more moons would come into view just with a 2X or a 3X Barlow.

Amalthea, sometimes referred to as "Jupiter V", was not discovered until 1892, and it took the 36-inch aperture Lick refractor, the largest in the world at the time, to see it. Very few amateurs have ever seen this moon with direct visual observation. There is no chance you could see any of Jupiter's other moons with a 10" aperture telescope.