(SNES) Amalthea and Himalia from FDO

[Albireo54@aol.com]

Hi Everyone,

Les and Barry have taken me up on the challenge of tracking down Jupiter's 
lesser children, Amalthea and Himalia. Since it actually looks like it may be 
clear tomorrow night (Ssshh!) I suggest that we take advantage of the 
moonless opportunity (after the 9:45 moonset). Jupiter will be very high in 
the sky as it crosses the meridian at 10:29 PM (72 degrees up in the south).

Amalthea doesn't swing west of Jupiter until about midnight, so Himalia 
should probably be our first target, starting at 10 PM - or as soon 
thereafter as the public allows. (This will be an interesting hunt, to be 
sure, but not necessarily for novice Jupiter observers.) I will bring precise 
coordinates with me along with a downloaded DSS image of the appropriate area 
NNE of Jupiter. As noted last night, Himalia will be only magnitude 14.9, but 
in a dark sky we should be able to spot it - especially if we can track the 
area for a couple of hours to confirm its motion.

For Amalthea, magnitude 14.1, I'll also have a DSS photo of the background 
stars as well as a sketch of the predicted positions. It will be at least 30 
arc seconds away from Jupiter's western edge from about 11:40 PM until 1:20 
AM - so there should be plenty of time to experiment with different 
magnifications. As it happens, there will be a magnitude 13.7 star about 58" 
SW of Jupiter at midnight tomorrow. That will be a good "barometer" for us - 
if we can see that we'll have a good shot at Amalthea.  

I really look forward to adding these two challenging moons to our "FDO 
Observed List", as I suspect that not many amateurs have ever seen either 
one. Lets' wish ourselves luck!

See you tomorrow night,
Doug
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