Astronomy questions
“this time of year,(cloud allowing!) Jupiter is visible all night…”
Actually, this time of year in this part of Jupiter’s orbit.
I didn’t realize the importance of the all night marathon. The reasons posted above deal with atmospheric effects only. I did not consider the practical aspect of finding planets when they are in different parts of their orbits.
Jupiter is now up at night in the winter-sky part of its orbit. This makes it a “winter object.” This summer, when Jupiter is up, so is the sun. Bad BAD news for summer viewing.
Wait, say, about 6 years (half Jup’s orbital period) and Jupiter will be up all night long during the summer. This will be the best time for all night viewing marathon because the summer nights are calm. This is not to say Jupiter is not visible in summer in 2 to 3 years, only that it won’t be visible all night long until maybe 5-6 years from now. So a marathon now must be in winter.
6 year wait. I didn’t consider that. Sorry. Your’e stuck with looking at shimmering fuzz for now if you wanna do a marathon.
Also, alot depends on where you live. I live in the South USA and the summer nights are the calmest found anywhere.