Wat was brandende voorwerp in die lug? Foto van twee van Jupiter se mane


Daar was onlangs oor groot dele van die land opgewondenheid oor ‘n brandende voorwerp wat van noord na suid deur die ruimte getrek het. Was dit ‘n meteoor, asteroïede of iets anders?

Ons hoor van ‘n nuwe ruimte-organsisasie wat in Suid-Afrika tot stand gaan kom, en

praat met Clyde Foster, ‘n planetêre waarnemer, oor sy foto’s van twee van Jupiter se twee mane. Die foto’s is so duidelik dat die skadu van die mane op die planeet gesien kan word.

Clyde Foster skryf: Jupiter 22 August. Maybe not a “pretty” pic, but an interesting one. It’s just a few days past Jupiter’s opposition, when it was both closest to Earth, as well as being directly “face-on” to us. Last night, two of Jupiters moons were transiting (left to right) across the planet, with their respective shadows trailing them. Both the size difference, as well as the nature of the surface of the two moons was evident. Ganymede is the larger moon (in fact the largest in the solar system) near the centre and has a diameter of 5268km, not that much smaller than Mars. A few of its major features are visible on its surface. Icy Europa is the smaller (just over 3000km diameter), bright moon at right. An interesting aspect of the session last night was the atmospheric conditions, where turbulence and wind in the upper atmosphere gave a mesmerising impression of water flowing over the image. Not ideal for imaging, but fascinating and beautiful in its own right. For the technically minded, the filter used was an IR>685nm.