Hello astronomy fans! I had a nice but short night tonight.
I went out at 7 p.m. to get my weekly observation on the sunset for the Planetary/Solar System Observers award. The skies were completely clear, but hazy at the horizons.
I could look at the Sun directly at the horizon with no optical stress at all.
I got a very nice observation of Jupiter. All four Galilean moons showed, and Callisto was as far away from Jupiter as I have ever seen it. Very cool. 8)
The Moon came up at 8:10 p.m. I thought I'd have more dark sky time, but no big deal. I went through my Lunar II list and found that I could do the Craters Messier, Messier A and the rays that extend through Mare Fecunditatis. It was suprisingly easy to see and I was able to draw it in detail once I cracked up the magnification to 200X.
Then clouds moved across the Moon and I packed it in. More tomorrow night. See you all Tuesday!