Hazy Days

[dick_dangerous]

Hi All,

Been a long time since I shared any observing sessions with you all. This week has seen a reversal in our cloudy fortunes in London with some gorgeous days and clear nights. However, when I say "Clear," what we've actually had is a constant petrochemical smog (Or something equally unpleasant) laced with dust from the Sahara. All this has conspired to make nights where we could be Ooo-ing and Ahh-ing at things a bit of a let-down (Especially seeing as March had zilch chances for observing for me).

Tuesday was my first attempt and it was appalling. I had hoped that it would be a chance to have my first galaxy session of the year, but instead I was plagued by high clouds and in the gaps you were lucky if you could see stars. Venus was boiling away near the horizon (You could just see that it was gibbous) to the point that it was pointless observing it. Jupiter, being nice and high right now, was a much better prospect and I got to test out my 5mm lens on it. The views were stunning with lots of fine detail in the cloud bands, and it made the effort of getting the telescope out worth the while. Other than that, everything else was invisible. Took a quick look at Cor Caroli and went looking for M81 and M82 which were almost invisible in the haze.

Last night was much more productive. Venus was still shimmering but Jupiter once again provided the goods. With no high cloud to contend with I went looking for some galaxies and managed to bag a couple: M94 still stood out, but M51 was nowhere to be seen (I suspect it's one that won't be visible from the park). M65 and M66 were just about there, but the third member of the trio was absent. And finally I went for a look at M3, a rather magnificent ball of fluff.

Hoping next week yields better skies (Monday and Tuesday currently forecast clear), and on Saturday I'm heading to the Lizard where... no doubt it'll be cloudy.

Thanks,

DD