Observation by Chris Hooker: Io's sodium cloud, 27th August 2023

Uploaded by

Chris Hooker

Observer

Chris Hooker

Observed

2023 Aug 27 - 02:04

Uploaded

2023 Aug 28 - 09:46

Objects

Jupiter

Equipment

254 mm F/6.3 Newtonian
Re-imaging 2.2x focal reducer
Alluxa sodium D-line filter
ASI174MM camera

Exposure

15 seconds @ F.2.9

Location

Didcot, Oxfordshire

Target name

Jupiter

Title

Io's sodium cloud, 27th August 2023

About this image

The inner part of the Jovian system was imaged through a sodium D-line filter (upper) and a UHC nebula filter (lower), with Jupiter attenuated by a strip of neutral filter to reduce the glare. The images are both stacks of around 80 frames, of 15 seconds for the sodium and 1 second for the UHC image, dark-fielded and slightly sharpened. The visible moons are labelled below.

In the sodium image, a faint diffuse glow can be seen extending away from Io both towards Jupiter and away from it, with the outer part inclined down from the orbital plane of the moons. This feature is present only in the sodium image and only next to Io, which confirms that it is indeed the cloud of neutral sodium present around Io. This material originates in Io’s atmosphere as a result of volcanic activity and sputtering from the surface, and is ejected by interactions with a ring of plasma in the Jovian environment.

Files associated with this observation

Io sodium cloud 27 Aug 23.png (111.7 kB)

Like this image

Mattia Piccoli, Bill Leatherbarrow, Graham Winstanley, Dr Paul Leyland, Jeremy Shears, Martin Lewis, John Rogers, Steve Knight

Comments

Martin Lewis, 2023 Aug 29 - 21:33 UTC

There you go again Chris -pushing the boundaries of what it is possible for amateurs to accomplish. Very well done on this fabulous image.

Martin

John Rogers

John Rogers, 2023 Aug 30 - 18:18 UTC

This is a fantastic achievement, Chris -- I believe your images here and on August 16th are the first amateur images of the Io sodium cloud.

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