Amateur Astronomers Maps the Brightness of Ganymede

An amateur astronomer, using a hobby telescope and off-the-shelf digital camera, was recently able to produce an impressive brightness map of Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. The view was put together using specialized computer software.

Skywatcher Emmanuel Kardasis, who is a member of the Hellenic amateur Astronomy Association, is proof that non-professional astronomers have a lot to contribute to the field. The results he managed to obtain using a 0.28-meter telescope are impressive indeed.

This was the general opinion expressed by experts during the annual European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), which takes place these days in Madrid, Spain. Kardasis was able to obtain his images by enhancing the images with a photo-editing program, Space reports.

“Ganymede has a tiny disk as seen from Earth so was a good test for my techniques. If the same methods were applied to other worlds, perhaps [Jupiter's] volcanic moon Io, we could capture surface fluctuations,” Kardisis said in a statement.