Stup and I got out Sat. night, joined later by David Coset, our 'French Connection' for astronomy. It was a nice clear night, though breezy and hazy on the horizons. I could spot Sirius B after staring for it a long while and then only when the wind would drop. I would love to have a calm night and be set up at dusk to try it now. I'll bet it would be easy to spot. Venus is still waning gibbous (65%?) but it is very near the Pleadies. They both fit easily into the same FOV in my finderscope. Steve searched for and found the M94 and M64 galaxies. He is doggedly pursuing his Messier certificate and wants my help less and less. Now about the only thing I can do is confirm if what he has is the correct object and it very nearly is over 90% of the time.
I drew Jupiter w/3 moons, all to the east and then found the Carbon star R Canis Minoris in less than 10 mns. after I started to search for it. Beta Canis Minoris is a three star asterism, but has 2 tiny stars midway between them that point directly to R. That was fun! Even David noticed the color of it with my asking only "What's the difference of the star in the middle of the FOV among all the other stars?"
We can't make the meeting tomorrow night at Randy's. Stup is undergoing another round of chemo and I have to put the Bloodmobile Drive to bed tomorrow night.
Sorry to miss it. It looks to be a memorable night. I'll see you hopefully this weekend.