A Nigerian journalist, Citizen Astronomer and astrophotographer, Kelechi Okorie, has captured planet Jupiter and the shadow of its closest moon, Lo, as it sweeps across the giant gas planet.

Okorie is an Information and Communications Technology, ICT reporter with City People magazine.

He described the phenomenon as akin to the eclipse whereby the shadow of the moon sweeps across the planet by obscuring the light from the sun. Lo and the other three closest moons to Jupiter periodically cast shadows on the planet, sometimes three of them at the same time.

Also, despite the limitations of the field rotation of the Altitude/Azimuth mount used, the resolution was enough to clearly see the shadow of Lo and make out some of the details of the giant gas planet, including the cloud bands made up of ammonia. The position of the rotation of Jupiter during the capture was such that the Great Red Spot of Jupiter was turned away from the view of the earth. Jupiter makes one complete rotation around its axis at an average of every 9.8 hours as against 24 hours on earth.

Lo is the closest moon to Jupiter at an average of 421,700 km away and completes an orbit around Jupiter every 42 hours while our own moon completes an orbit at approximately 28 days. However, Lo is roughly the same size with the moon. It is one of what is called the four Galilean moons which were discovered by Galileo when he looked up at the heavens with a telescope and observed Jupiter and the moons in the year 1610.

He first started observing Jupiter in 1609 but discovered the moons the following January. The other Galilean moons in order of their proximity to Jupiter are Europe, Ganymede and Callisto. (Vanguard)

Update news