(Posted 9 March 2015)
The shadow of Jupiter’s largest moons Io, will cross the face of Jupiter tonight between approximately 8:30 pm AEST and 10:30 pm AEST (9:30 pm AEDT to 11:30 pm AEDT). While Jupiter can easily be seen with the unaided eye (look for the brilliant star above the Eastern horizon at the end of evening twilight), you will need a high powered telescope to be able to see Io’s shadow on Jupiter’s cloud tops.
Notice I didn’t mention looking for Io itself. I have yet to have any success doing that – even using my telescope equipped with a Barlow lens to increase the effective magnification of the telescope. I could see the tiny black disc of Io’s shadow though.
1 thought on “Got a telescope? Watch Io and its shadow pass across Jupiter’s face tonight.”