127mm Mead Apo refractor, x3 Televue Barlow lens and a QHY5111462c planetary camera. Composite image (not to scale) Credit Pip Stakkert.
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| Transit and shadow transit of Europa - Shadow transit next the Great Red Spot - Moon Io far right. Credit: Kurt Thrust |
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| Saturn with it's rings rapidly closing from Earth's perspective. The Saturnian moons; Tethys, Enceladus and Dione far upper right. |
" 2024 was not a great year for imaging the planets. The atmosphere was often turbulent and Saturn in particular was low near our southern horizon. The rings of Saturn as viewed from the planet Earth have been closing (inclined at a small angle) for some time and next year will virtually disappear in our line of sight. The above images are the best we captured of the two gas giants in 2024". - Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
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| Comparative images of Jupiter taken with two different QHY planetary cameras in 2018 and 2024. Credit: Pip Stakkert. |
" It is well documented, that the Great Red Spot, an enormous anticyclone in the Jovian clouds, has been shrinking in size for a number of years. This image appears to show the opposite! Having inspected these two images carefully we have concluded that this anomaly is the result of perspective, real changes in GRS colour saturation, colour sensitivity differences between the two cameras used and data software processing changes. Science and pretty pictures don't mix young Skywalker!" - Joel Cairo CEO of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.
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Mysterious Saturn - Kurt's favourite planet.
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| The planet Saturn amongst the stars of the constellation Aquarius. |
