4 sketches of Mars, all made a little after opposition in 1997, with my old 8" Newtonian. I was pleasantly surprised about how much detail I could see in this less-than-favourable apparition. I really don't think I was using too much "averted imagination" and calculated central meridian checks with maps only after completing the sketches.
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| 1997 March 24: 22:35 UT; x200; orange filter no.21; central meridian 244 °; seeing poor. | 1997 April 13: 21:40 UT; x200; orange filter no. 21; central meridian 55°; seeing fair. |
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| 1997 April 15; 21:05 UT; x200; orange filter no.21; central meridian 29°; seeing good. | 1997 April 17: 20:40 UT; x200 orange filter no.21; central meridian 5°; seeing good. |
Jupiter was at opposition in September 1998. I did numerous sketches between August 1998 and January 1999. These are a few of the highlights.
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Jupiter on 24/8/1998 at 2255 UT; seeing poor; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow green filter, 143x. Despite poor seeing, the sketch shows the shadow of Io and Io itself in the SEB, whilst further south the shadow of Ganymede (preceding edge of planet) and Ganymede itself (near Red Spot). |
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| Jupiter 30/8/1998; x228; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing moderate. 2255 UT | Jupiter 30/8/1998; x228; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing good. 2335 UT |
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| Jupiter 31/8/1998; x228; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing good/moderate. 0025 UT. | Jupiter 31/8/1998; x228; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing moderate. 0120 UT. |
| A sequence of drawings of Jupiter, August 30th - 31st 1998. In particular note the three white ovals in the NEB, and various details in NEB and SEB. Jupiter was truly spectacular on this night. | |
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| Jupiter 6/12/1998; x143; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing good/moderate. 2025 UT. | Jupiter 6/12/1998; x143; 10" Meade Starfinder; yellow-green filter; seeing moderate. 2059 UT. |
| Jupiter showing the "not so Great Red Spot", also detail in NEB. | |
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Saturn and satellites: 31/8/1998; 0045 UT; x143; 10" Meade Starfinder; seeing good. The sketch simply shows the positions of visible satellites - there is no attempt to show detail on the planet. But see the next image..... | ||||||||||
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| Saturn: 31/8/1998; 0100 UT; x285; 10" Meade Starfinder; seeing good. Saturn shows the Cassini division and the Enke division in the rings, as well as the crepe ring. Also some detail on the disk. | ||||||||||||
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