Jupiter and the Galilean Moons, March 2026

Starlog March 9th, 2026, 9:25 p.m. local time

If you saw my prior Jupiter article, you may have noticed that this log entry is two minutes earlier than the prior’s. During my telescope session on March 9th, I concentrated on “720p” videos, but also wanted to attempt one video to fully capture the visible Galilean moons. This was almost not possible; Ganymede was far to Jupiter’s left (East) and Europa almost as far right (West) in its orbit. I fully admit that capturing all four moons in this extended configuration was pure luck on my initial attempt with the new planetary camera.

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The order of objects in the accompanying final image, from left to right, is Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Jupiter, Europa. Callisto is the faintest.

A larger point of view makes Jupiter smaller than in my last posting, with the benefit of simply making the planet look better. Smaller images mask focus misses and imperfections. Coupled with the perspective on all four moons, this image could almost be professional.

Those who “know what they are doing” with my type of equipment go the other POV direction—stacking drizzles at 1.5 or even 3.0 times the original size. To do that requires a mastery of astrophotography which I lack. Still, I am more than pleased with this session’s wide view of the Jovian family.

Equipment Used:

• Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 Schmidt-Cassegrain
• ZWO ASI676MC planetary camera
• – Capture Area Size = 3552 * 3552
• – Capture Limit = 90 s
• – Colour Format = RAW8
• – Debayer Preview = ON
• – Debayer Type = RGGB
• – Exposure = 8ms
• – Frame Count= 2809
• – Gain = 97
• – Temperature = 26.6 C
• – TimeZone = -5
• No Barlow, no filter
• Created from a 90s video, best 85% of frames via Autostakkert
• Software for post-processing:
• – PIPP
• – Autostakkert 4
• – WaveSharp 3
• PaintShop Pro for minor touch-ups