Let’s take a look at Jupiter
In my last column, I can remember saying I expected there would be more clear nights as April came on. Wellthat was probably an incorrect suggestion — pretty rainy April so far … Moving on …
For May, let’s talk about Jupiter and galaxies.
Jupiter first. If you look out about 9 p.m. in the southeast, the brightest point of light in the sky will be Jupiter. If you have good vision, you will notice that Jupiter is big enough that it looks like a tiny dot instead of just a pinpoint of light. As the evening goes on, Jupiter will be directly south about midnight. It will be about three fist-widths up from the southern horizon.
I have been studying Jupiter since I was 14. It is a great ball of gas, about 10 times the size of the Earth. Despite its huge mass, it rotates on its axis in about 10.5 hours. Probably Jupiter has a rocky core or perhaps a core of crystallized hydrogen — or so scientific theory predicts.
Jupiter generates weak radio waves because of its strong magnetic field. It is about 877 million miles from Earth and it is very cold there because it is very far from the Sun. Jupiter’s atmosphere is mostly methane, ammonia, and other hydrocarbons.
I have been trying to photograph Jupiter for about as long as I have been studying it, first with all sorts of film cameras and then digital cameras. Recently, I bought an inexpensive planetary camera that takes videos of the planets and the Moon. These videos can be edited with very sophisticated software and the result can be really amazing. I am sharing a recent attempt to get a good image. I hope you like it. One of Jupiter’s moons is also visible.
In spring, the constellation Virgo is directly south in the night sky. In that region of the sky, a cluster of galaxies about 50 million light years away is very near the borders of Virgo. There are about 4,500 members in this cluster and it is a favorite for amateurs with large telescopes. This cluster of galaxies cannot be seen by the naked eye. I am going to try to image several of these galaxies and I will include any good ones I get in this column.
Happy month of May to you!
— Dr. David Cater is a former faculty member of JBU. Email him at starbug352@ yahoo.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.