Jupiter moon's to be seen by binoculars this month

Just saw this bit of news and figured would let others know as well.

MIght have to pull out mine at home and bring them to work this month and see if I can get a good look. Even though we can see it with them not sure how well we will see it. still think you would really need decent telescope for any detail and what not.


Jupiter's Moons

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - The largest planet in the solar system will put on a show for stargazers throughout June. According to NASA, Jupiter is at its biggest and brightest and will be visible to naked eye when it passes Earth later this month. The planet will appear bright throughout the night, even in cities. Stargazers should be able to spot several of its moons with nothing more than a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, according to NASA. You may even catch a glimpse of the cloudy bands that encircle the planet. NASA shared more detail in its June 2019 Skywatching Tips.

I'm an amateur astronomer, John Dobson himself got me interested in Astronomy and currently own 4 telescopes and off the bat I read it as Fake News....

But if you have a clear night and are standing atop the Everest....maybe

a reply to: manuelram16

Yea, kind of questioned it my self hence why mentioned telescope as well.

a reply to: manuelram16

I see Jupiter and the moons every year with my binoculars, and I have a lot of (online) friends that take pictures of it and the moons, showing the bands too.
I can also take pictures and see the bands and moons, but the moons have to be in a completely different shot with a wider aperture to make them show, you can't (or I can't) take a one shot Jupiter and moons shot.

I have 10x50 binoculars.

What? You guys don't have binoculars made of two Hubble monocles?

Easy peazy to see with mine.

a reply to: manuelram16

8 years ago (more or less) I took a photograph of Jupiter with my Samsumg WB5000, nothing special, and some of the satellites were visible.



I took the photo because it looked to me, with the naked eye, that there was something more than just one bright light.

originally posted by: OzManHero
Just saw this bit of news and figured would let others know as well.

MIght have to pull out mine at home and bring them to work this month and see if I can get a good look. Even though we can see it with them not sure how well we will see it. still think you would really need decent telescope for any detail and what not.

Correct, you will not be able to see detail with binoculars. The moons will just look like little points of light, as will Jupiter, kind of like ArMaP's picture but not as good.

originally posted by: manuelram16
I'm an amateur astronomer, John Dobson himself got me interested in Astronomy and currently own 4 telescopes and off the bat I read it as Fake News....

But if you have a clear night and are standing atop the Everest....maybe

What are you basing that on? I've seen them through binoculars. It's possible if you have a good pair and are in a place with low enough light pollution.

originally posted by: ArMaP
a reply to: manuelram16

8 years ago (more or less) I took a photograph of Jupiter with my Samsumg WB5000, nothing special, and some of the satellites were visible.

I took the photo because it looked to me, with the naked eye, that there was something more than just one bright light.

That's a really cool photo, thanks for sharing. It's interesting how much Jupiter looks like an actual star in it, you can easily see the moon's are reflective but Jupiter looks like it has its own light source.
Must have something to do with the reflective qualities of gas vs rock/solids.

The first thing you need to do is find Jupiter. I know my star patterns, but not where planets are. I could identify Mars a couple of times, but it's red color is what gave it away.

a reply to: rickymouse

It's generally one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Use something like Stellarium software to confirm it

As for the OP, I've seen Jupiter's moons through binoculars, but it was in a very low light plution area.

All you have to do is find the ecliptic, and all the planets that are visible presently, will be on that line.

Today, finding most any celestial object is super easy, with Google Sky , just point it at the sky on your smart phone...

Binoculars always show Jupiter's moons, but as specks of light. Best to use a good pair of 10x50 binoculars. High end Bushnell and Bausch & Lombe will have the best resolving power, especially with the models that zoom up to 25x.

Most telescopes resolve Jupiter's bands fairly well, but you will usually be disappointed with the seeing conditions as the Earth's atmosphere sometimes makes viewing with anything above a set of binoculars very frustrating.

Best leave the telescopes to the diligent amateurs with deep enough pockets to own an instrument worth having. There is so much crap on the market. In my perspective, if the instrument is a Celstron or Meade, you will have to spend a grand or more to be a happy astronomer.


This Questar standard 3 1/2 inch cassegrain quartz optics desktop telescope is by far the most versatile and superior small instrument you can buy. Price ranges from about $3k to $5k used. Fits in a nice little case. Drool on!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jupiter's largest moons are visible in binoculars all the time (as long as you can see Jupiter in the night sky).

Seems like things got taken out of context for a sensationalising/clickbaity headline, again.

BTW, here's my pic of Jupiter and its largest moons, taken with a Canon DSLR and 300mm lens:

originally posted by: wildespace
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jupiter's largest moons are visible in binoculars all the time (as long as you can see Jupiter in the night sky).

As far as I know, you are correct. Every time I attempted to see Jupiter's main moons through binoculars, I could see them.

I think at least two or three of the four Galilean Moons are always visible with binoculars. Maybe they might brighter this month, but being able to see them isn't new.

originally posted by: BlackIbanez

originally posted by: ArMaP
a reply to: manuelram16

8 years ago (more or less) I took a photograph of Jupiter with my Samsumg WB5000, nothing special, and some of the satellites were visible.

I took the photo because it looked to me, with the naked eye, that there was something more than just one bright light.

That's a really cool photo, thanks for sharing. It's interesting how much Jupiter looks like an actual star in it, you can easily see the moon's are reflective but Jupiter looks like it has its own light source.
Must have something to do with the reflective qualities of gas vs rock/solids.

It also has to do with the fact that Jupiter is much bigger, so it reflects a larger overall amount of light from the sun. Some of the moons have a lot of ice, which should be very reflective too, but they're so much smaller they just can't reflect enough light.

originally posted by: rickymouse
The first thing you need to do is find Jupiter. I know my star patterns, but not where planets are. I could identify Mars a couple of times, but it's red color is what gave it away.

These days you can just download an app that shows you where everything is. I have one called Star Chart. You hold your phone up and turn around and it shows you whatever is in the direction you're facing.

Here's something to check your area for observations:

darksitefinder.com.../37.21/-92.92

Its amazing we know so much about other moons,
We dont know much about the dark side of our own moon

a reply to: 11SK1180

We do know, starting by not being dark.

originally posted by: 11SK1180
Its amazing we know so much about other moons,
We dont know much about the dark side of our own moon

Such as? (and as ArMaP pointed out, it's not the "dark side" but the "far side").

Granted, we could not even see our own moon's far side until the space age so we got a late start, but we have been investigating the far side of our Moon for a while now. Similarly, We didn't have detailed images of Jupiter's moons until the Voyager probes fly-bys in the 1980s, and we didn't do any long-term study those moons until the Galileo Probe in the 1990s and early 2000s.

By the way, here (link below) is a very detailed map of our moon's far side. This map is an interactive and zoomable mosaic of hundreds of individual high-res images, with some individual image resolutions being so good that you are able to resolve rocks and other features as small as an inflatable exercise ball/yoga ball.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Quick Map - Far Side

Used binocs and spotted 2 moons around Jupiter.

1 o’clock and 7.

Used a telescope and found 4. Two much closer in and the original two that I saw thru binocs.

Tucson, AZ and near zero light pollution.