Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the
Solar System, is classified as a gas giant. It has a mass
one-thousandth that of the Sun, but is two and a half times the combined
mass of all the other planets in our Solar System. Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune are also classified as gas giants and together with Jupiter are
sometimes referred to as the Jovian or outer planets. Making it the
third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus,
Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of -2.94.
On the lower right of Jupiter's surface, in this image, is the Great Red
Spot (GRS), a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least
the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope.
Telescope: Celestron 8” EdgeHD @ f/25
Accessories: TeleVue 2.5x Powermate; Dew control by Dew Buster
Filters: Baader 1.25” RGB in an Atik EFW2
Mount: Takahashi EM-200 Temma2
Camera: Imaging Source DMK31
Exposure: 63ms each filter
Gain: R:687; G:600; B:603
Length: 0:30 each @ 15fps
Acquisition: FireCapture
Processing: Autostakkert
Post-processing: ImagesPlus 4.5; Adobe Photoshop CS5
Capture time: December 10, 2011, 9:15pm - 9:16pm CDST
Capture conditions: 27.0°F; transparency: above avg. 4/5; seeing: above avg. 4/5
Location: Hendersonville, TN, USA