Jupiter rises in Portsmouth

I love Portsmouth, but have never been at night for some reason. Today we got off to a late start and ended up there as the sky turned to black.

An amateur astronomer set up his telescope in front of the local Starbucks and invited passers by to peer through its lens, where he lined up Jupiter. His telescope was too small to make out the details of the planet, but four of its moons were in clear view. It was very cool – enough to make one twinge for a telescope, if ever so briefly. The bright pin-point of light near the buildings in the sky is Jupiter.

Comments

  1. Ryan @ Metacom Creative says:

    Nice shot. Astronomy has always interested me, I remember asking for a telescope when I was a kid. I’ve been meaning to try some long exposures to capture star trails, but I can’t seem to find the right night or the right location at the same time.
    .-= [email protected] Creative´s last blog ..Panorama of Three Pictures =-.

  2. James says:

    Yeah, I would really enjoy capturing some star trails, too. It was one of the things I was thinking of when I grabbed the remote shutter release for my camera. My neighborhood is fairly dark, but finding a truly clear night is what will be the true challenge… lots of clouds in my neck of the woods.

  3. Oradan says:

    Wow. I have always wanted to see a planet. It kind of looks like a giant star. Thanks for checking out my website :D

  4. James says:

    You bet, Oradan. Will be re-visiting soon; haven’t had a chance to check out any of the writing yet, but I will.

    The telescope’s magnification was such that you could barely make out that Jupiter was a planet, and the four moons in view looked like tiny stars.

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