That's Jupiter alongside the moon.

renglish

In case you were wondering. If you have a decent pair of binoculars and can rest them against something steady, you should be able to see the tiny moons gathered around the disc of the planet. A small telescope will reveal horizontal bands. Each night, you can see the moons re-arrange themselves as they orbit the planet. One of my favorite celestial sights.

I have just moved from California to Howth, and while it a little cooler here (!), the atmosphere looks very steady. I was active in Astronomy in California for quite a few years, building an 18" Newtonian telescope and serving on the board of directors of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers. I would welcome any contact with amateur astronomers in the Greater Howth Metroplex. :-)
There's too much sky here to let it go to waste.

zenno

I just had a look out there and just took a video of it. Nothing spectacular in the video resolution but it shows it fine.

jfSDAS

Welcome to Dublin renglish!

The sight of Jupiter beside the Moon was really stunning and a fine demo of our satellite world's motion in the sky. I first spotted the pairing at 5:30pm yesterday evening and then again at 9pm when the gap between the two had narrowed. My last sighting was 7:45am this morning with the Moon sinking in the west and Jupiter now to the right of it. Of course the angle of setting had something to do with this also.

I travelled with SFAA members last May to see the annular solar eclipse from near Mt. Shasta and hope to link up with some of them again over the Christmas. Also drop in to see Sam in Scope City any time I'm in the area.

The Irish Astronomical Society ( http://www.irishastrosoc.org ) host Sidewalk Astronomy events once a month at Sandymount sea front so do drop by to say hello.

Clear skies!

john

Rubecula

Welcome to the forum renglish.

tricky D

R, give me a shout next time you're down at the Wed trad session or PM and I'll point out some of the best local spots. There's a few of us including someone who is heavily involved with Astronomy Ireland and we're often checking out ISS passes, meteor showers, planets and more.

renglish

Hello and thanks, fellow stargazers!
I have been made to feel most welcome here by you all and by other members of the Howth and Dublin musical communities.
Great video, zenno. Thanks. The Mrs and I will certainly drop by the Sandymount sky show soon. It's great doing outreach. Its many an evening I spent with John Dobson at 9th and Irving Streets in San Francisco showing passers-by the moon and planets. John is still at it and he's 94!
Just goes to show you that sidewalk astronomy keeps you young!
Here is a shot of me doing S.A. with my old 18" Dob in California:

renglish

Rubecula wrote: »

Welcome to the forum renglish.

Thanks!

renglish

I've just picked up an 8-1/2" Newtonian f-7.3 with 1/10th wave mirror. An old (30 Years) Fullerscope, which will be set up for sidewalk astronomy in the Howth area. Used it tonight to get a look at Jupiter and its 4 largest moons. Even though the scope has only been roughly collimated, it produced very good images. I must say the seeing conditions in Howth are a bit better than we had in California.
I'll be receiving a collimation tool and a telrad finder in the next few days and make some adjustments to the manual tracking controls before taking it out on a clear night soon for some public exposure.
Best to you all.
renglish
Howth

coylemj

The Moon will be very close to Jupiter again on the night of Jan 21st.