BARBADOS MISSION REPORT 2015

 FEBRUARY 25th - MARCH 11th, 2015

*This body of work is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Donald C. Parker - Planetary imaging extraordinaire who passed away in February 2015*

Left: With my mini-me! - Barbados, March 2015.  Right: Don with his telescope at his home in Miami.

Barbados was once again the destination for my overseas trip to image the night sky. This trip represented my 10yr anniversary of visiting the island and my eighth visit overall. The primary goals of this trip were to obtain high quality images of Jupiter and Saturn. This trip occurred at the peak of the dry season the island so i was optimistic of many good nights occurring. This time i also had the added diversion of my young son accompanying me!

Despite the peak of the dry season the weather conditions posed a constant challenge. Large amounts of cloud on most nights made for frustrating conditions. A few nights were also affected by unusually average seeing conditions. There were however some excellent nights up to the usual standards where it was possible to take some very detailed images. Conditions for Saturn were often especially challenging and i don't think the seeing was ever close to perfect on any of the mornings - though undoubtedly a massive improvement over the conditions at home where Saturn is far to low now for high resolution.

Around the same time as these images were being taken i had the sad news that planetary imaging pioneer and long time friend Don Parker had passed away. Don was an incredible astrophotgrapher and his work spans from the era of photographic film right upto the present to almost the week before his death. His work set the standard for decades and without his inspiration and guidance much of the work on this website may never have been realised. He was a great friend and will be sadly missed by all who knew him. All the work produced on the trip is dedicated to him.

Once again its a big thank you to Eric Norris on Barbados for his help and hospitality during our stay.

© Damian Peach, July 2015.


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Complete rotation movie. Complete rotation of the planet obtained during our stay.


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Complete map of Jupiter. Complete map of the planet obtained during our stay.


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GRS rotating over a single rotation. Only the second time this has ever been done and the first time based soley on a single observers images. The rotation of the GRS can be seen as it passed across the disk on February 26th.


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February 25th, 2015. Very good conditions. Io and shadow in transit.


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February 26th, 2015. Very good conditions. The GRS is well placed with turbulent region following.


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February 28th, 2015. A brief spell of very good conditions. Oval BA is central with GRS just appearing on the limb.


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March 2nd, 2015. Very good conditions. Lots of storm visible across this hemisphere. Note the array of white SSTC ovals in the south, while the NNTB shows a string of dark jetstream spots.


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March 3rd, 2015. Average conditions. A lucky shot through a cloud gap in otherwise cloudy skies. The GRS coming on while Ganymede is seen in transit across the planet.


 

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March 4th, 2015. Very good conditions. Oval BA, Io in transit and the GRS are all seen in these images.


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March 5th, 2015. A very brief period of very good conditions. Oval BA is close to centre.


 

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March 6th, 2015. Good conditions. The region following the GRS is seen which itself has just passed over the limb. Europa is seen alongside the planet.


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March 7th, 2015. Good conditions for a brief time. Oval BA is well placed in this view. Again only a brief spell of good conditions on this night.


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March 8th, 2015. Average conditions. The GRS is heading off at right.


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March 9th, 2015. Some good conditions at times but allot of cloud. White Spot Z is nicely seen in the first image on the NEBn edge near upper right.


 

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March 10th, 2015. Very good conditions. The GRS is nicely placed with Ganymede approaching transit showing surface markings. NASA APOD May15th, 2015


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February 26th, 2015. Very good conditions. Small storms can be seen on the disk including the anti-cyclonic fossil from the great storm in 2011.


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March 2nd, 2015. Good conditions. Again storms are visible on the planet toward the polar region.


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March 4th, 2015. Average conditions. No storms can be seen on the planet.


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March 5th, 2015. Average conditions. No storms can be seen on the planet.


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March 6th, 2015.  Poor conditions. No storms can be seen on the planet.


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March 7th, 2015. Fair conditions. No storms can be seen on the planet.


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March 10th, 2015. Excellent conditions. Small storms and the polar hexagon are clearly visible.


Lunar crater Abulfeda


Alpine Valley and surrounding mountains


Lunar crater Aristoteles


Lunar crater Bullialdus


Lunar crater Clavius and surroundings


Lunar crater Copernicus


Lunar crater Endymion


Lunar crater Eudoxus


Lunar crater Fontenelle


Lunar craters Atlas & Hercules


Lunar craters Janssen & Fabricius


Lacus Mortis


Lunar crater Langrenus


Lunar craters Manzinus & Mutus


Lunar crater Maurolycus


Lunar crater Petavius


Lunar craters Pitatus & Hesiodus


Lunar crater Plato


Sinus Iridum


Lunar craters Theophilus, Cyrillus & Catharina

 


© All images copyright Damian Peach. No images used on this page may be used. amended, or distributed without the consent of the author.