Observation by Chris Hooker: Io's sodium tail, 10th September 2023

Uploaded by

Chris Hooker

Observer

Chris Hooker

Observed

2023 Sep 10 - 00:56

Uploaded

2023 Sep 10 - 10:13

Objects

Jupiter

Equipment

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

Exposure

15 seconds @ F/2.9

Location

Didcot, Oxfordshire

Target name

Jupiter

Title

Io's sodium tail, 10th September 2023

About this image

The inner Jovian system captured through a narrow-band sodium D-line filter. The image is a stack of 90 15-second exposures, aligned on the image of Io, dark-fielded and slightly sharpened. The disc of Jupiter was attenuated by a strip of aluminised Mylar to reduce the glare. The three moons visible on the right (west) of Jupiter are (left to right) Io, Callisto and Ganymede; north is up in this image.

A slightly curved tail of light extends from Io away from Jupiter for about eight Jovian radii, to the lower right diffraction spike from Ganymede. There is also a streak extending in towards Jupiter, which becomes lost in the glare. There are no such features associated with the other moons, which shows that the tail and the streak are indeed the sodium cloud originating from Io.

The wriggly streaks to the lower left are ghost reflections of the three moons. The telescope was guided on a nearby star, and Jupiter moved during the 25 minutes of recording, so the reflections also moved.

Files associated with this observation

Io cloud 10 Sep 23 2b.png (264.7 kB)

Like this image

Paul G. Abel, Jeremy Shears, Mike Foulkes, Dr Paul Leyland, Mattia Piccoli, Philip Jennings, Steve Knight

Comments

Philip Jennings, 2023 Sep 15 - 10:35 UTC

Incredible, Chris!

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