A clear night joy

[kerrylewis]

PANNSTARRS and Jupiter last evening and then up again for Saturn . Joy at last.

Having seen the comet in the first week I finally saw it again last night after a few fruitless evenings in between. As usual when you find something like that you wonder why you couldn't before. It is obviously fainter now but that is compensated because it is higher in the sky and seen against a darker Background. Basically if you can see the fuzzy blob of Andromeda then go slowly down towards the horizon. Clear in the bins - clear starlike head and a fan tail.

The seeing for Jupiter was not good. Swimming in and out froma fuzzy blob to quite sharp. The sort of seeing that makes you think your scope has gone wrong.

But still got up for Saturn at around 3.00 and the seeing had improved a little. Good moments of clarity with detail on the rings and the disc. A quick look at my favourite smoke ring - The Ring Nebula in Lyra and back to bed. I used a garden chair which is great for improving seeing! If you can sit and concentrate it really helps!

Although it is cold it's great to have some clear nights at last. A joy

Kerry

[andrew63]

Same for me Kerry, not seen the comet for a couple of weeks, and lost it's lustre a bit. Lovely night though.

andrew

[kerrylewis]

I agree. It's no great shakes now but I love anything that is a newcomer to the night sky: something you can watch change over several days. One of my favourites was comet Holmes because it brightened away from the sun and you could track it against a dark sky over quite a while

[MadAlbert]

Great stuff! Try as I may, I still haven't got to see comet Panstarrs.

Still, getting as much Jupiter while I can and waiting patiently for Saturn.

[Double Kick Drum]

Congrats on getting PanSTARRS. I only managed myself last night after a long long wait over the past three weeks for a break in the cloud, especially to the West.

The comet will get very close to M31, the Andromeda galaxy over the next three or four days.

Clear skies!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report again. It fun to watch Panstarrs slowly change position and fade. Holmes was an unexpected treat as well, as I remember

[Bizibilder]

Nice to see a report from someone actually looking at the night sky! Good to see you found Panstarrs too.

[kerrylewis]

Thanks Michael and Roger for your comments. The night sky at around 3.00 this morning was a delight.I would have lingered longer but these old bones were beginning to feel the cold. Looks like it may be similar tonight so will give it another go. I've decided to start a Messier list which I've not done before. I am loving my new scope and want to see what it will do

Kerry

[kerrylewis]

Another clear night.

Starting with Jupiter, the seeing was very good. In comparison with the previous night when the planet seemed to swim in and out of focus, last night it was rock solid. I could see four dark bands - the wider two and two more wispy and narrower. Detail of the bands' edges could be seen showing a variegated outline. After 9.00 BST the Great Brown Spot came into view. I could see the 'bay' in the dark belt that it sits in - the spot itself having a surrounding paler edge. No transits of the moons but they were nicely grouped 2x2. A lovely experience for a planet man.

I broke off to go to my bit of flat roof with the western view to check out our comet friend and found it easily this time. It's getting closer to the andromeda galaxy but looked fainter than on the previous evening.

A couple of quick clusters and I closed down for the night anticipating what Saturn would be like in such conditions. But it was not to be . I got up around 2.30 again but seeing had changed and was not as sharp as the previous evening. But there were moments of clarity with detail such as the Cassini division visible occasionally.

It was much more humid and in fact the scope dewed up as soon as I took the end cap off before I had a chance to put the dew shield on. Time for the 'hair dryer treatment' .

So it was damp as well as cold so I didn't hang around. Still waiting for that tack sharp view of the ringed one, but will we get it this time around with it being so low?

One strange phenomenon: in an otherwise clear sky a single small cloud moved quickly across changing shape in the dim light. It felt very eerie somehow.

Kerry