Red Spot Jr. with 80mm???

I was observing Jupiter last night with the TEC6 and TSA102 and believe I got the Oval BA. Without looking at any pics I memorized where I thought I was seeing it, then went to Chris Go's latest Jupiter shot and verified that I saw it. I shouldn't say verified...I'm 75% sure I bagged it.

This morning, I went searching to see if I was crazy to think I could see Jr. with such small aperture. Apparently, people have reported seeing it with aperture as small as 80mm.

I know it was already difficult to cleanly pick out the Oval BA from the south polar region with the TEC6 (it was ify through the TSA). Yet people have done it with 80mm!

Can anyone confirm?

-Evan

Evan Chan said:
This morning, I went searching to see if I was crazy to think I could see Jr. with such small aperture. Apparently, people have reported seeing it with aperture as small as 80mm.

I know it was already difficult to cleanly pick out the Oval BA from the south polar region with the TEC6 (it was ify through the TSA). Yet people have done it with 80mm!

I'm never quite sure what to make of such reports. They strain credulity, and certainly some people are only too ready to report positive results, but on the other hand, I guess it's not quite impossible, and with the large number of people looking for BA, it's conceivable that just a handful have made it out in 80 mm.

That being said, it's phenomenally difficult. BA is about half the size of the GRS, true, but unlike the GRS, it does not sit in its own hollow in the SEB, so that one doesn't have a clear guide as to where to look. I saw it early on with my 5-inch SCT when it was still quite a ways clear from the GRS; a few days ago, I couldn't make it out. (Granted, the seeing was much worse a few days ago.)

I would say that unless one can see some hints of structure within the GRS, I would have a hard time accepting a positive BA report. It's just so close to the GRS right now.