Such features stand out well through red, orange, or yellow filters. Saturn’s belts look bluish-gray, brown, and red. Saturn’s zones appear off-white, slate-gray, or yellow. From night to night, these features may change position. Note any bright or dark spots compared to the belt or zone they’re in. Through an 8-inch scope, note the rings’ brightnesses, color differences, and textures. When observing Saturn, look for the Cassini Division, a dark gap between its two brightest rings. Shadows appear as small black dots through any telescope. Best views come when the satellites appear against the gas giant’s dark belts.Ī shadow transit occurs when a moon’s shade crosses Jupiter’s disk. An occultation occurs when the satellite disappears behind the joivan disk.Ī transit occurs when a moon moves in front of Jupiter. An eclipse occurs when a satellite moves through Jupiter’s shadow. A #23A (red) filter brings out details along Jupiter’s equator and sharpens contrast in the major belts.įour events are possible involving Jupiter and its four large moons. Blue filters also sharpen bright cloud features. Be sure to target the Great Red Spot.Ī #38A (dark blue) filter will enhance the planet’s zones. In addition to the changing positions of its four largest moons, the planet’s rotation brings nearly all of its possible visible area into view in a single night. Watching Jupiter nightly can be rewarding. Even small scopes show several dark stripes - the North and South Equatorial Belts - flanking the giant planet’s equator. Next to the Sun and the Moon, the celestial object with the greatest observable detail is Jupiter. For the best views, use a blue or violet filter. Evening clouds are generally larger and more numerous. You also can observe morning and evening clouds - bright, isolated patches of surface fog appearing at martian sunrise and sunset. For the low-altitude ones, a #58 (green) works better. To view orographic clouds, use a #80A (blue) or #47 (violet) filter. Orographic clouds are made from water created by wind passing over martian mountains and volcanoes. Discrete clouds are localized and get carried along as the planet rotates. Seasonal examples occur because of heating and cooling. Mars’ atmosphere features several cloud types. Don’t try to observe the entire disk or dart your gaze from one feature to another. Concentrate on a small area or a single feature. Use high magnifications to observe the Red Planet, right up to the limit of the atmosphere’s steadiness. As long as Mars’ atmosphere is transparent, you’ll see detail several months before and after opposition (when Mars rises at sunset, usually within a week of closest approach). Mars and Earth are closest once every 26 months, but don’t wait for the Red Planet to reach maximum apparent size before you start observing it. Look for an immense C- or Y-shaped feature centered on the planet’s equator. This filter doesn’t allow much light through, so use it with at least an 8-inch telescope.
You may be able to spot the most famous through a #47 (violet) filter. Daytime observations of Venus are also easier than those of Mercury because Venus shines brighter and can lie farther from the Sun.įeatures in Venus’ atmosphere range from dusty shadings to bright spots. While the innermost planet looks twice as big when between Earth and the Sun than it does when it lies on the far side of our star, Venus is more than six times larger. Astronomers routinely follow its phases, along with size changes - a feature easier to spot with Venus than Mercury. (Be careful never to point your telescope at the Sun.) If you can locate Mercury, use a yellow or orange filter to cut down the sky’s blue light. Most good views of Mercury occur at midday, when the planet sits high in the sky. The best times to spot this elusive orb are when Mercury lies at one of its elongations, either farthest west of the Sun in the eastern morning sky or farthest east of the Sun in the evening sky. Through a telescope, you can detect Mercury’s phases, but details are scant. And you won’t need a dark sky to do so: Even under city lights, the planets provide easy objects to watch evolve. Through a medium-sized scope, you’ll see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn change on a nightly basis. Even a small telescope will reveal details on the giant planets. The other planets of our solar system aren’t just targets for spacecraft.
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