Explanation: Jupiter looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope images. Both were captured on November 17 from Singapore, planet Earth, about two weeks after Jupiter's 2023 opposition. Climbing high in midnight skies the giant planet was a mere 33.4 light-minutes from Singapore. That's about 4 astronomical units away. Jupiter's planet girdling dark belts and light zones are visible in remarkable detail, along with the giant world's whitish oval vortices. Its signature Great Red Spot is still prominent in the south. Jupiter rotates rapidly on its axis once every 10 hours. So, based on video frames taken only 15 minutes apart, these images form a stereo pair. Look at the center of the pair and cross your eyes until the separate images come together to see the Solar System's ruling gas giant in 3D.
E Fish wrote: ↑Fri Nov 24, 2023 2:45 pm
The two images are too far apart. I can't bring them together.
If you are on Windows, simply click CTRL - or CTRL + to adjust the spacing until you can cross your eyes and merge the two images together (I'm sure there's an equivalent way to do this on a Mac). It's a very nice effect.
These images are remarkably sharp and detailed. Image stacking and digital processing have revolutionized astrophotography. It also helps that these images were acquired through a 21" Newtonian reflector, with Jupiter at opposition. The 3D effect is impressive, but if an observer were close enough to Jupiter for it to appear this size to the naked eye -- a half million miles perhaps -- it would appear as a flat disk, like our full moon.
This picture reminds me that I heard the great red spot is shrinking. I wonder if that would be visible when comparing an old picture (100 years ago?) with a recent picture.
javachip3 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 25, 2023 9:39 am
These images are remarkably sharp and detailed. Image stacking and digital processing have revolutionized astrophotography. It also helps that these images were acquired through a 21" Newtonian reflector, with Jupiter at opposition. The 3D effect is impressive, but if an observer were close enough to Jupiter for it to appear this size to the naked eye -- a half million miles perhaps -- it would appear as a flat disk, like our full moon.
It would appear flat to our eyes at any distance. What images like this do is effectively put our eyes many kilometers apart.
Chris
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Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
goodfoodstove wrote: ↑Sat Nov 25, 2023 1:01 pm
This picture reminds me that I heard the great red spot is shrinking. I wonder if that would be visible when comparing an old picture (100 years ago?) with a recent picture.
Will our grandchildren turn their telescopes to Jove only to see a pale pink oval like so many others rolling around the planet's South Tropical Zone?
An inspired image prompted this sad train of thought. UK astrophotographer Damian Peach came up with an ideal way to depict how the GRS would look to us now if it we could see it as it was in 1890, 125 years ago. Those were the glory days for the "Eye of Jupiter" as Cassini was fond of calling it. With a diameter of 22,370 miles (36,000 km), the GRS spanned nearly three Earths wide. What a sight it must have been in nearly any telescope.
Peach compared measurements of the Spot in black and white photos taken at Lick Observatory in California in 1890-91 with a photo he took on April 13 this year. He then manipulated his April 13 data using the Lick photos and WINJUPOS (Jupiter feature measuring program) to carefully match the storm to its dimensions and appearance 125 years ago. Voila! Now we have a good idea of what we missed by being born too late.
But the shrinking of the GRS is quite evident even in images taken over a span of 20 years:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
Stereo Jupiter near Opposition
