APOD: The Giants of Summer (2020 Jul 29)

[APOD Robot]

The Giants of Summer

Explanation: As Comet NEOWISE sweeps through northern summer skies, Jupiter and Saturn are shining brightly, near opposition. With Jupiter opposite the Sun on July 14 and Saturn on July 21, the giant planets are still near their closest to planet Earth in 2020. Sharing the constellation Sagittarius they are up all night, and offer their best and brightest views at the telescope. Both captured on July 22 from a balcony in Paris these two sharp telescopic images don't disappoint, showing off what the giant planets are famous for, Saturn's bright rings and Jupiter's Great Red Spot. These giants of the Solar System are worth following during 2020. On December 21, skygazers can watch the once-in-20-year great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

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[XgeoX]

Jupiter is a whopping 47.3 arc seconds in diameter right now, not too far away from someone with fighter pilot eyesight to make out as a disc! It was an even bigger 47.6 just days ago at opposition.
And if you have a really big scope Pluto is only a degree and a half away from Jupiter roughly towards Saturn. So with a wide angle eyepiece you could take in all three at once though I imagine the glare from the two giants might make Pluto impossible to see.

1895 Lithograph!




Eric

[Boomer12k]

Great shots of both.... I went out and just eyeballed them tonight...

:---[===] *

[orin stepanek]

Nicely done!

[Sa Ji Tario]

The explanation refers to the boreal summer, since the Australian hemisphere is in winter, clarification of many people who are just beginning. In my parts the zodiacal zone is observed, which is the plane through which almost all the planets transit and we have no problem locating them. Due to the southern polar current, the climate in my parts is not friendly and there were rains, cloudiness, mist and a lot of humidity that in the best conditions only the brightest stars and objects were guessed, hence the conjunctions and the Kite. They are moving away. I was alone with the images I received online and on television.
The explanation says that the images were taken from France and on Saturday it seems almost natural, but Jupiter is somewhat out of focus, there are images with better details and since it is taken from the center, they are better, but I suppose with the light The pollution of Paris Filters for halogen lights are also accepted, if not.
On the author's blog, you see images that, in my opinion, lack focus, Jupiter's red spot should have better details

[TheZuke!]

I saw these giants the other night. I didn't know they are "in" Sagittarius.
I've never really made out Sagittarius, does their brightness (naked, nearsighted eyes) make it hard to be able to make out the "teapot"?

[Chris Peterson]

I saw these giants the other night. I didn't know they are "in" Sagittarius.
I've never really made out Sagittarius, does their brightness (naked, nearsighted eyes) make it hard to be able to make out the "teapot"?

Sagittarius as the Archer requires a lot of imagination, and maybe some mind altering drugs. The Teapot, however, is easy (at least, once you've seen it the first time). Neither Jupiter nor Saturn are interfering in the least with seeing the Teapot asterism right now.

[TheZuke!]

Thank you, Chris!
As Sg is low in my Southern sky, it has to compete with terrestrial light pollution (sigh!)

[orin stepanek]

To be in a city at night limits ones ability to see a nice sky! I'm fortunate to see a few sky marks like Orion, The sisters the moon and a few planets! Too damn many trees in the neighborhood! That's why it is nice to get out of town once in a while! That's why I like APOD! These nice photographers do the looking for me and I get to look from the safety of my computer!

[Chris Peterson]

To be in a city at night limits ones ability to see a nice sky! I'm fortunate to see a few sky marks like Orion, The sisters the moon and a few planets! Too damn many trees in the neighborhood! :bang: That's why it is nice to get out of town once in a while! :lol2: That's why I like APOD! These nice photographers do the looking for me and I get to look from the safety of my computer! :mrgreen:

Fortunately, being in a city offers almost no impediment to viewing or imaging planets.

[orin stepanek]

To be in a city at night limits ones ability to see a nice sky! I'm fortunate to see a few sky marks like Orion, The sisters the moon and a few planets! Too damn many trees in the neighborhood! That's why it is nice to get out of town once in a while! That's why I like APOD! These nice photographers do the looking for me and I get to look from the safety of my computer!

Fortunately, being in a city offers almost no impediment to viewing or imaging planets.

+1! Thanks for that!