{"id":30465,"date":"2022-03-16T05:03:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T05:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/?p=30465"},"modified":"2022-09-28T23:16:29","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T23:16:29","slug":"how-to-identify-jupiters-moons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/how-to-identify-jupiters-moons\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Identify Jupiter’s Moons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you observing Jupiter<\/div>

Planet of the Solar System, fifth from the Sun. It is the largest planet in our solar system(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/jupiter\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>Jupiter<\/a>’s moons or aiming to, and are wondering which moon<\/div>
<strong>Moon<\/strong> (def): A natural satellite orbiting a planet or other celestial body. Earth has one moon,(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/moon\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>moon<\/a> is which? Here I explain how to identify Jupiter’s moons and some other helpful info about what to expect and what to look for when viewing these standouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Jupiter's
Jupiter’s moons closest to farthest from planet<\/div>
A planet is a large celestial body that orbits a star. In our solar system, there are eight(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/planet\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>planet<\/a>: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jupiter’s satellites how many? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jupiter’s satellites number 79<\/strong>. But, most are too faint for you to see through a backyard telescope. The configuration of Jupiter and its moons or satellites resembles that of our Solar System<\/div>

<strong>Solar System<\/strong> (def): The Earth is one of 8 planets orbiting the Sun in the Solar System. The(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/solar-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">solar system<\/a> in miniature (relatively speaking). Let’s call it the Jupiter system<\/strong>. The moons all lie on a plane similar to that of the Solar System planets<\/div>
The Solar System planets orbiting our Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/solar-system-planets\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">the solar system planets<\/a> orbiting our Sun<\/div>
The star at the center of our Solar System is the Sun. The surface temperature of the Sun is(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/sun\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>Sun<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news for home stargazing<\/div>

<p><strong>What is stargazing? <\/strong>Stargazing is looking to see the stars, constellations, planets, and other(...)<\/p><\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/stargazing\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">stargazing<\/a> enthusiasts is that four are big and bright enough to detect<\/strong> through a small telescope or a medium-sized set of binoculars. These standouts that you’ll see when viewing Jupiter through a telescope<\/a> are named the Galilean moons, after their discoverer — Galileo Galilei<\/a>. The Jupiter moon names are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto<\/strong>, in order of closest to farthest<\/strong> from Jupiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europa is the smallest of these four Jovian moons<\/a> and is smaller than our Moon<\/a>, coming in at about 3130 km in diameter versus the 3475 km of our Moon. Jupiter’s moons biggest to smallest are Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa. Ganymede is about two and a half times the size of our Moon. You can see what I mean in the image below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Size of Jupiter moons you can see compared to our Moon<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Viewing Jupiter’s moons from Earth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What to expect in viewing Jupiter’s moons<\/strong>? From Earth<\/div>

Where we live. The third planet from the Sun in the Solar System, the Earth rotates once per(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/earth\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>Earth<\/a>, the Jupiter system appears on its edge because its plane roughly resembles that of Earth’s orbit. The Jupiter moons you can see, each pass in front, behind, and around Jupiter in their orbits. The chart below <\/a>shows how long they each take to orbit Jupiter and their average distance from the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than four dots circling around a disc (Jupiter), what you can expect to see are a couple or more shining objects sitting off to either side of the disc and at times, a moon hidden behind Jupiter (occulted), crossing in front of Jupiter, casting a shadow across the mid section of Jupiter’s surface, or eclipsed. These are Jupiter events<\/strong> that you can have a fun time watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four main Jupiter events are the Shadow Transit, Satellite Transit, Satellite occultation<\/div>

An occultation is a complete obscuring of light by an object. In astronomy, it is the total(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/occultation\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Occultation<\/a>, and Satellite eclipse<\/div>
<strong>Eclipse<\/strong> (def): Where light from one celestial body is obscured by the crossing of another(...)<\/div>\" href=\"https:\/\/telescopenights.com\/glossary\/eclipse\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>Eclipse<\/a><\/strong>. You can catch a moon fading and disappearing into Jupiter’s shadow; see Callisto (the farthest moon from Jupiter) at maximum elongation. Binoculars 7x or higher<\/a> steadied on a tripod<\/a> can do the trick if you don’t have a telescope. Just give your eyes time to adjust and avoid bright artificial light interference<\/a>. You’ll likely need 100x magnification to see the Shadow Transit, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Jupiter and satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How to identify the Jovian moons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A way to identify the Jovian moons when observing Jupiter is to draw the arrangement of the moons that you see or otherwise if you have the right equipment, photograph the view through your telescope. Knowing the time and day of your observation, match the arrangement with tables, diagrams, or models of the moons’ positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some avenues to find how many of Jupiter’s moons are visible tonight<\/strong> and the arrangement to expect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n