Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Jupiter and Io

NASA ^ | November 28, 2012 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: On December 3 (UT), Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, will be at opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky, shining brightly and rising as the Sun sets. That configuration results in Jupiter's almost annual closest approach to planet Earth. So, near opposition the gas giant offers earthbound telescopes stunning views of its stormy, banded atmosphere and large Galilean moons. For example, this sharp series was recorded on the night of November 16/17 from the island of Sardinia near Dolianova, Italy. North is up in the images that show off Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot, and planet girdling dark belts and light zones. Also seen in transit is Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, its round, dark shadow tracking across the Jovian cloud tops as the sequence progresses left to right.

[notfornothing]

Fun thing I thought I’d throw in with Jupiter being so easy to locate - if you look at it through a pair of decent binoculars (mine have 16x magnification and I picked them up for $60 at Wal Mart) you should be able to see some tiny specks in a line on either side. Those are the bigger moons.

[Graewoulf]

Thanks! Great image of Io.

[Yardstick]

IO! IIIO!
Daylight come and I wanna go home.

[Yardstick]

That pic of Io is reminding me of this girl:

[sonofagun]

You can see Jupiter now - it’s the bright star above the full moon.

It was below the full moon this morning!

;^)