Ganymede Occulting Io at Jupiter

[Mike Salway]

This morning I was able to capture my first Galilean Moon occultation, when Ganymede passed in front of Io, covering about 40% of the volanic moon.

The seeing was reasonably stable, maybe 6.5/10 and the morning started off beautiful and clear. Some cloud bands came through right at the wrong time, ruining some of the sequences right in the middle of the occultation. Of course it cleared completely after the event was all over.

Despite the annoying clouds almost ruining my chances of capturing anything of the occultation, I was able to image enough of the event to put together this 32-frame animation, covering 33 minutes of elapsed time. Detail and albedo features can be seen on both moons.

Ganymede Occulting Io Animation (250k gif)

For more info about my capture and processing settings for this event, and why it’s even so special at all:
Ganymede Occulting Io - My First Galilean Moon Occultation

Thanks for looking.

[Chip]

Once every 6 years, huh? Talk about anticipation and self-control.

More great stuff. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to your next post.

[Mike Salway]

Thanks Chip, appreciate the feedback,

[Fred flyfisher]

Great job in spite of adverse cloud conditions it turned out great. Interesting event. Thanks!