How Does Mars, Jupiter Look through telescope?

[Cassini12]

<p>After seeing a chart I just read on distance of our planets from the sun, I am wondering a few things.</p><p>&nbsp;I have seen Saturn and it is Small but clearly visible. So again from what I read Saturn is approx 886.7 million miles from Sun. </p><p>So if Mars is only 141.6 million miles, and jupiter being huge and only 483.6 million miles, will that make them a nice decent size for viewing with my meade telescopes?(DS-2114 and smaller 60mm). Thanks all</p><p>&nbsp;also I should add that i have not yet tries to view these planets, I am just inquiring about what to expect, I have a feeling that they will loook more like bright basketballs rather than any surface like features that i would like to see. lol</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>After seeing a chart I just read on distance of our planets from the sun, I am wondering a few things.&nbsp;I have seen Saturn and it is Small but clearly visible. So again from what I read Saturn is approx 886.7 million miles from Sun. So if Mars is only 141.6 million miles, and jupiter being huge and only 483.6 million miles, will that make them a nice decent size for viewing with my meade telescopes?(DS-2114 and smaller 60mm). Thanks all&nbsp;also I should add that i have not yet tries to view these planets, I am just inquiring about what to expect, I have a feeling that they will loook more like bright basketballs rather than any surface like features that i would like to see. lol&nbsp; <br />Posted by Cassini12</DIV></p><p>Well, Jupiter's globe is about the size of Saturn's rings are across. The best time to see it is when we are the closest. That is when it at opposition, rising at sunset and being highest overhead at midnight. That's a few months from now this year. At that time we are 93 million miles close to it than it is to the sun. Current Earth Sun distance is about 762,000,000 km or 474,000,000 miles. At opposition on July 10th it will be 622&nbsp;million km, 387 million miles away.</p><p>That also goes for Mars, but being much smaller and in a very eccentric orbit, the size varies a lot from one opposition to the next. I think with your scopes, Mars will seldom be more than a little reddish dot. However, Jupiter should be large enough for you to easily see th 4 Galilean Moons, and at least the dark bands across the surface. The Great Red SPot might be out of range, though.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[Cassini12]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Well, Jupiter globe is about the size of Saturn's rings are across. The best time to see it is when we are the closest. That is when it at opposition, rising at sunset and being highest overhead at midnight. That's a few months from now this year. At that time we are 93 million miles close to it than it is to the sun. Current Earth Sun distance is about 762,000,000 km or 474,000,000 miles. At opposition on July 10th it will be 622&nbsp;million km, 387 million miles away.That also goes for Mars, but being much smaller and in a very eccentric orbit, the size varies a lot from one opposition to the next. I think with your scopes, Mars will seldom be more than a little reddish dot. However, Jupiter should be large enough for you to easily see th 4 Galilean Moons, and at least the dark bands across the surface. The Great Red SPot might be out of range, though. <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV></p><p>Wanye is thier a website were I can see a chart of future dates that planets will be closes to us, for better viewing of them? Thanks again</p>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Wanye is thier a website were I can see a chart of future dates that planets will be closes to us, for better viewing of them? Thanks again <br />Posted by Cassini12</DIV><br /><br />I've been meaning to recommend that you subscribe to either Sky and Telescope or Astronomy magazines. They both provide you with monthly viewing events a month or two in advance. Jusdging by your curiosity, You'd love getting either one.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Both of their Websites have that information availble if you dig far enough.</p><p>http://www.skyandtelescope.com/</p><p>http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx</p><p>Wayne</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

<p>Be advised, however, that these magazines contain ads for very nice telescopes.&nbsp; They can be hazardous to one's bank account.</p><p><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-money-mouth.gif" border="0" alt="Money mouth" title="Money mouth" /></p><p>I've also seen websites that will tell you where Jupiter's moons are expected to be (so that you know which ones you're seeing -- don't just assume that the innermost is Io and outermost is Callisto, since you can be fooled by the perspective as they pass in front of one another) and when the Great Red Spot is facing Earth.&nbsp; The GRS got bleached for unclear reasons when it gobbled up another storm a few years ago, making it much harder to spot with small telescopes, but it is still there.&nbsp; I don't think you'll be able to see it, but at least then you'd know if this was because you can't resolve it or because it was on the other side.</p><p>Ah, found a good link for Great Red Spot transit times.&nbsp; Amusingly, it refers back to Sky and Telescope. </p><p>http://www.projectpluto.com/jeve_grs.htm</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[nimbus]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Wanye is thier a website were I can see a chart of future dates that planets will be closes to us, for better viewing of them? Thanks again <br /> Posted by Cassini12</DIV><br />Celestia is a free program that'd easily give you an overview of planets positions, and with which you can simulate what a specific magnification would look like.</p><p>These&nbsp;were&nbsp;the&nbsp;scales&nbsp;midway&nbsp;thru&nbsp;last&nbsp;November,&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;Moon&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;left, at 400x:&nbsp;</p><p>http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2151/2035388152_c7cf275699_o.jpg</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>