Lining Up For A Bo-Peep … At Jupiter, Live!

Looking up at a starry sky can give the impression “not much is going on up there – it all looks so still”… But nothing is further from the truth. On a clear, still winter’s night, Audrey, Ilya, Kate and Rowan with their own eyes have seen how alive it really is…!

While observing a magnificent Jupiter with multiple bands and markings across its surface, they also watched in delight as Europa – one of the Galilean moons, made its way across in front of Jupiter (known as a satellite transit). At the moment the moon completed its transit passing over Jupiter’s limb (upper atmosphere on Jupiter’s edge, as seen from Earth) it became easy to see the little satellite 600 million kilometres away from us was a tiny sphere. The view created  quite the contrast in sizes: like watching a grain of sand moving away from a golf ball! Europa moved on silently into the blackness of space forever bound by gravity on yet another orbit around the host planet. Nearby and down on Jupiter’s gassy surface the shadow of one of the other 4 Galilean moons was leaving a trailing shadow (shadow transit) as it also passed overhead.

…. Jupiter was putting on a live show, for anyone who cared to look up and see (with the aid of a telescope of course) The world is well – and alive, after all.

“Everyone should do an astronomy tour at least once in their life. Seeing Jupiter and Saturn was an incredible moment. An awe-inspiring experience that we won’t forget!”   Audrey