Good evening

[kerrylewis]

Nice couple of hours this evening before the clouds spoiled it. Lots of detail on Jupiter and the seeing withstood some magnification. Also looks good at the mo in a wider field because the planet is amongst some stars at present which are of similar magnitude to its moons so it looks like it has increased its retinue. Tried the neodymium filter that I bought at Astrofest: it does seem to increase contrast on the planet's detail without dramatically changing colours.

Then swung over to M82 for another look at the supernova which I'd not seen for a while. Still holding up and the filter seemed to improve the view of the galaxy too. It's a great thrill to see this, my first SN, just wonderful.

Tried the moon as thin cloud crept over. It's great skimming over the surface with high magnification when the seeing is good. The filter seemd to help here too but the cloud was also taming the brightness.

I picked up references to the neodymium filter on SGL and I'm glad I got one - seems like it could be a good all-rounder,

Good to get a bit of observing in between cyclones!

[cotterless45]

Yep fantastic to be out there again.

The SN appeared a bit duller than at the end of last month, but still clearly visible. Lovely views of Jupiter up to x240. Saw some odd dark barges and a thin hairline streak from the southern belt into the equator. High point being the appearance of Europa on the rim, then crossing like a small bright pearl.

Nick.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Glad you guys could pick tyhe SN up. This last weekend has shown some unexpected bits of clear skies. Not long enough, really, but at least we are getting to see something

I agree that the SN is fainter now, and it looks clearly redder than the mag 10 comparison star nearby