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NEPTUNE 2018 - 2020 Neptune is the outermost planet in our Solar System – now that Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet…although the recent NASA mission to Pluto has certainly added enormously to the knowledge of this particular member of the Solar System! For planetary
imagers like us Neptune is the ultimate challenge: even at very high
magnification it appears as just a tiny disk through our telescope…to achieve
even the most shadowy details on this planet is an outstanding achievement – hardly
surprising when you consider that it is 4.5 billion kilometres away!!!
(4,503,443,661 kms from the Sun) At times it is even possible (under very good conditions) to pick up enormous storms raging in Neptune’s upper atmosphere…these appear as bright, white spots which are plotted for their progress, with the information being used by professional astronomers to assist their own studies… Note: Some
images on this page are “clickable” and will open up as “full scale images”
in a new tab. |
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27th November 2019 |
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17th October 2019 |
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Animation |
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Reversing Animation |
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29th July 2019 |
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10th October 2018 I think that the 2 storm spots (BWC's - bright white complexes) are genuine in this image...one just below the Equator at 5°-6° South, with the other about 36° S...they can be seen quite easily in the animation (I think!) but I'd like to capture them again to be sure: as previously mentioned, animations by virtue of any suspected features appearing in their (presumed) correct positions at different times of the night a good way of substantiating their veracity! Doing this again on a separate night only further confirms their existence – although they can also easily dissipate over short periods of time!… |
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20th September 2018 Despite poor seeing Neptune reveals a couple of spots confirmed in the animation, both high on the Northern rim of the planet - but hopefully some half-decent seeing down the track will reveal further activity! Here's an "enhanced" & larger take with the 2 captures best displaying the 2 BWC's & another single take of the best capture - such as it is, uber-enhanced |
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3rd September 2018 Neptune for the first time this year: I "think" a bright spot is there but even though I have put together a 4-frame reversing animation (with Triton) I have to say it doesn't fully affirm its' presence apropos our usual requirements. Good to kick-start the Neptune "season" however & we were dealing with pretty poor seeing...the gif animation might require clicking on to start... |
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