BARBADOS MISSION REPORT 2010.

 SEPTEMBER 8th - 29th, 2010.

One of the finest images obtained during the trip with Ganymede and Io close by.

The particularly close opposition of Jupiter in 2010 made a trip to observe the Planet from Barbados one that i had been planning for some time. The Planets exceptional angular diameter close to opposition (49.8" on Sep 20th) and high altitude above the horizon (75°) presented possibly the best opportunity to photograph Jupiter for me since high speed video cameras came into use.

The trip however did not start well at all. Torrential rain and thunderstorms at Barbados delayed landing and after diversions to St Lucia and Antigua i finally landed on Barbados 8 hours late. Exhausted, and with skies overcast i retired to bed. The second day again presented overcast skies and not until the third day was i finally able to resume imaging. Nights 11,13 and 14 were also lost due to a tropical wave bringing clouds and rain. Hurricane Earl passed well to the NE of the island during the early part of the trip, though high cloud spewing out from the storm caused problems on some nights. Rain occurred almost everyday of the trip at some point and the month ended with double the average rainfall for September.

Seeing conditions were as usual generally good to excellent, though only a few nights were exceptionally good throughout. Differing to previous trips this time i employed a Point Grey Flea 3 camera for imaging operating using the Firecapture program. This set-up preformed very well.

Despite the rather variable weather at times, the trip resulted in my best Jupiter imagery to date. I hope you enjoy viewing al the work produced during my latest trip to the island, much of which is presented below...

Finally, my thanks to Eric Norris for his help and hospitality and to Ian Sharp for his loan of the Flea3 camera.

© Damian Peach, Dec 2010.


JUPITER IMAGERY.


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Jupiter 2010 - Complete rotation of the Planet, Sep 12-13th, 2010.


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Jupiter 2010 - Cylindrical map of the entire Planet, Sep 12-13th, 2010.


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Jupiter Timelapse Movies. Showing the motions of the currents and jetstreams.


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September 11th, 2010. Only fair to good seeing as two solid days of poor weather cleared away. Ganymede nearby with spot Z prominent with a dramatic NEB rift nearby.


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September 12th, 2010. Near perfect conditions on this night. The GRS, Oval BA and the NNTZ LRS are all well presented.


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September 13th, 2010. Again another night of near perfect conditions. A wealth of fine detail across this hemisphere. Note the ring like storms in the northern hemisphere.


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September 14th, 2010. Good seeing though software problems with the Flea3 (which were resolved the next day) meant the SKYnyx camera was used on this night. The GRS and Oval BA are on show, appearing brilliant in the Methane band images with the NNTZ LRS bright in the northern hemisphere.


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September 15th, 2010. Though starting poor, things soon developed into another night of near perfect conditions despite Hurricane Igor 570miles NE of the island at Category 5 strength! Note the collection of anticyclonic storms across the northern hemisphere.


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September 16th, 2010. Deteriorating conditions on this night with high clouds from Hurricane Igor causing problems seriously reducing transparency. Despite this some good results were obtained of the GRS and Oval BA hemisphere.


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September 17th, 2010. Again problems with high clouds from nearby Hurricane Igor. Thunderstorms approaching meant a limited number of images of which this set was best.


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September 18th, 2010. A transit of Ganymede on this night with many of the main features visible on Jupiter's largest Moon such as the brilliant Osiris ray crater region at bottom.


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September 20th, 2010. After overcast skies the previous night, skies again cleared with good seeing conditions. Note the two ovals in the NEB closing up.


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September 23rd, 2010. Very trying conditions with strong easterly winds, occasional showers and low cloud. Io approaching transit.


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September 24th, 2010. Excellent conditions on this night with the GRS hemisphere presented. Io emerging from eclipse.


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September 25th, 2010. Excellent conditions again. Note the two bright ovals in the NEB are merging. Ganymede showing various features.


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September 26th, 2010. Excellent seeing conditions though worsened later. Oval BA, the GRS and spot Z are all well placed in this sequence.


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September 27th, 2010. Excellent seeing conditions again. Note the two ovals in the NEB continue their merger.


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September 28th, 2010. Some excellent seeing conditions once again. White spot Z is prominent with some dramatic rifting throughout the NEB. Oval BA is appearing on the Planet toward the end of the session.


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September 29th, 2010. Some very good conditions to finish the trip. The GRS is well presented along with Europa and Ganymede alongside the Planet.


URANUS & NEPTUNE.


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Uranus & Neptune, September 25th, 2010.


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Uranus, September 27th, 2010.

 

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