Starship Asterisk*

Observatory Aligned with Moon Occulting Jupiter

Explanation: Sometimes we witness the Moon moving directly in front of -- called occulting -- one of the planets in our Solar System. Earlier this month that planet was Jupiter. Captured here was the moment when Jupiter re-appeared from behind the surface of our Moon. The Moon was in its third quarter, two days before the dark New Moon. Now, our Moon is continuously half lit by the Sun, but when in its third quarter, relatively little of that half can be seen from the Earth. Pictured, the Moon itself was aligned behind the famous Lick Observatory in California, USA, on the summit of Mount Hamilton. Coincidentally, Lick enabled the discovery of a moon of Jupiter: Amalthea, the last visually detected moon of Jupiter after Galileo's observations.

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If my eyes aren't deceiving me, there's a faint dot on the top right of Jupiter, my guess is it's Ganymede.. There's another even fainter dot on top right of the first dot, and I think it must be Callisto.

Or is it just my eyes tricking me???

You are correct! Both Ganymede and Callisto are visible in the image

rickwhitacre wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 10:17 am You are correct! Both Ganymede and Callisto are visible in the image

You must be the photographer! Thanks for this beautiful picture, and for the answer

What a lovely blue hour shot this is! Kudos Rick Whitacre!

Rauf wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 1:01 pm

rickwhitacre wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 10:17 am You are correct! Both Ganymede and Callisto are visible in the image

You must be the photographer! Thanks for this beautiful picture, and for the answer

I am! Thanks for the nice comment!

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 1:31 pm MoonJupiter_Whitacre_960.jpg
What a lovely blue hour shot this is! Kudos Rick Whitacre!

Thanks, Orin!

Rauf wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 7:39 am If my eyes aren't deceiving me, there's a faint dot on the top right of Jupiter, my guess is it's Ganymede.. There's another even fainter dot on top right of the first dot, and I think it must be Callisto.

Or is it just my eyes tricking me???

Well spotted, Rauf!

And beautiful image, rickwhitacre!

Ann

Thanks, Ann!

From the description: "Now, our Moon is continuously half lit by the Sun"

Is that accurate? Doesn't the Earth block some Sunlight from hitting the moon during a lunar eclipse? Or is my 3D sense kaput once again?

Small correction. The Moon is well past Third Quarter in the photo. The Third Quarter is when the visible hemisphere of the waning Moon is half illuminated.

johnnydeep wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 8:54 pm From the description: "Now, our Moon is continuously half lit by the Sun"

Is that accurate? Doesn't the Earth block some Sunlight from hitting the moon during a lunar eclipse? Or is my 3D sense kaput once again?

I guess no one wanted to take lunar eclipses into account