Well, it didn't last long, astronomy fans. From 7 to 9 it was terrific, but at 9 p.m. (And this was something that I have very rarely seen) the clouds came in from all 4 points of the compass. Jupiter was the last hurrah. Wild.
We had the French guy, David (pronounced DA-VEED) with us again. The guy is a hoot! He loves astronomy, and is an absolute die hard. He wants to image and he apparently is a very good photographer, even to the point to where he has sold six pictures commercialy. He wants to learn astronomical imaging. I told him "Come on up to the RAC and meet all of you high tech guys". He wants to, but is a Kwik Trip employee and has a tough time getting away.
We looked at Jupiter, the Alpha Persei Association, NGC's 1674 and 1746 in Taurus, the Andromeda Galaxy along with M32 & M110, M41 in Canis Major (we had great discussions on open star clusters) and finished the night off with the Orion Nebula. David asked me "I see those 4 little stars. What are they?" I explained that they were born in the cloud of dust and gas that surrounds them. He was amazed.
I'm glad to be home. My mouth is sore and my fingers are cold. See you Tuesday.