Jupiter, the majestic giant of the solar system, has always been my favourite planet. While Saturn delivers undeniably glorious views; Jupiter, at least for me, has always stolen the show. Having suffered a grueling month of cloudy evenings, and twilight nights, the chance to take in an observation of this dazzling planetary behemoth early on Saturday morning was a welcome one.
The fact that Jupiter was in conjunction with Neptune, and the star µ (Mu) Capricorni just added to the celestial spectacle. My view however was to be a short lived one. Due to the urban geography of the neighbourhood; both planets remained in my sights for only 16 minutes before disappearing behind the row of three storey buildings that line the front of the house.
A Planetary Dance
Despite my brief window of opportunity I was afforded a stunning observation. The 25mm Celestron plössl revealed the equatorial belts of Jupiter as rust coloured bands, while the four moons: Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa beamed like a string of brilliant diamonds against the dark sky. Having conducted my most recent observations of Jupiter with the 25×100 Strathspey binoculars; it was a real pleasure to see this distant world with such clarity.
While Jupiter made a striking impression; Neptune, bathing in the alabaster light of the waning gibbous Moon, was just discernible as a faint point of light with a hazy turquoise hue. This is the second time that I have been fortunate enough to view this remote ice giant which sits just over 2 billion miles from the Earth. Gazing upon this diminutive speck you realise that you are actually looking at the end of planetary space beyond which begins the Kupier belt, the Oort cloud, and finally galactic space. An amazing, but rather humbling thought.
In between this planetary dance µ Capricorni, a yellow-white F3 IV type subgiant that lies 90.2 light years away, cast it’s white incandescent light upon the scene. Subgiants are stars which have, or are in the process of ending hydrogen fusion. Beyond this point in it’s evolution µ Capricorni is destined to become a red giant that may, at some point in the far flung future, bloom into a planetary nebula.
As quickly as Jupiter, and Neptune had risen above the roof tops then no sooner were they gone. Hidden from view by the suburban sprawl. Left alone with the Moon, which made for a very tempting target, I decided to make the most of it by taking in one more special observation before packing up.
One Giant Leap
Forty years ago, on the 20th of July 1969, NASA realised the mandate that the late President John F. Kennedy had laid down eight years earlier: to land a man on the Moon, and return him safely to the Earth. Apollo 11, carrying the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, set down near the south western shore of the Mare Tranquillitatis, and made history.
It was here that I aimed the telescope in search of three small craterlets: Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong; all of which form a chain just east of the larger impact craters Ritter, and Sabine. After ten minutes of continued scrutiny the 6mm plössl finally resolved these three small monuments to the first manned lunar landing. In reality Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong range in size from 2.4 Km to 4.6 Km giving some idea of just how vast this region of the Moon really is.
Letting my gaze drift down not far from Collins I imagined the quiescent remnants of Tranquility Base, also known as Statio Tranquillitatis, forever frozen in time by the vacuum of space. A lasting testament not only to the triumph of Apollo 11, or the United States of America, but probably the single greatest achievement Mankind has ever made. Where the 21st Century will take space exploration is anyone’s guess, but hopefully one day humanity will find itself once again voyaging to the Moon, and beyond.
If you have the time then why not follow in the footsteps of the Apollo 11 astronauts by tracking down the craterlets Aldrin, Collins, and Armstrong yourself. The best time to do this is nearer the end of the month, on the 27th of July, five days after the new Moon. I’d also recommend that you take in an view of Jupiter, and Neptune as they drift past one another in the night sky. This is the second of three conjunctions that will take place between these two planets during the year, with the third one to occur on the 20th of December. Have fun, and happy observing!
