Unlocking Another World
with an Astronomy Ireland Telescope!
Listen to David Moore speak about telescopes and astronomy on Inishowen Community Radio HERE!
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and one of the most impressive objects to see in the night sky. Over the coming weeks Jupiter will be blazing in the south, easily the brightest object in the night sky (other than the moon). This visible even from the center of a city by the naked eye. Through an Astronomy Ireland telescope however, a whole other world of detail becomes visible!
Through even a small telescope or pair of binoculars it is quite easy to see Jupiter’s moons orbit the immense planet on either side. There are four moons that are visible through telescopes on earth: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These moons orbit Jupiter at different rates and appear in different positions each night.
If you want a better view of this gas giant and wish to see details beyond just its moons, with a slightly larger telescope you can see features within the cloud bands of Jupiter. Storms of poisonous gas swirl around Jupiter at breakneck speeds and can be seen as horizontal lines of alternating cream and pale red bands. You can even make out Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm the size of earth that has been raging in the planet’s atmosphere for at least 300 years! An example of what this looks like through an 8-inch telescope is shown below.
If you really want to get the best views of Jupiter, you can use an extremely large telescope such as the Celestron C14 that is used by Astrophotographer extraordinaire Damian Peach for his photography. These are available from the Astronomy Ireland Shop and we pride ourselves on being the only Irish shop to cater for amateur and professional astronomers alike! Here is one of Damian’s incredible photographs taken from the south of England.
If you would like any information or advice on purchasing one of our telescopes or viewing this spectacular planet, please do get in contact with us. Our new shop is open in Swords, Co. Dublin and you can contact us by phone on (01) 890 11 11 or by email through sales@astronomy.ie.
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