Jupiter in 2016

Jupiter and 3 of its moons just before midnight on the 10th February 2016. Imaged from our backyard using my 127mm Meade Refractor and my QHY5-11 Planetary Camera. From top right to bottom left the moons are: Ganymede, Io and Europa.

The earth's upper atmosphere was not particularly steady when I took these images so the detail in the cloud belts is not particularly good.

Jupiter is currently in the constellation Leo and is visible from the early evening. It appears to the naked eye as a very bright star.  Biinoculars reveal four of its brightest moons, Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto.

When I look at Ganymede and Europa I wonder if there is life in the sub-surface oceans that are believed to exist below their icy crusts.

127mm Meade Refractor and my QHY5-11 Planetary Camera.