Some frustration, some luck

[SwiMatt]

The forecast was clear clear clear from 7pm to 1am... useless to say that it wasn't really! I set up the Mak 127 in my spot in the forest at 8.15pm with a couple of clouds in the sky but all in all not bad. I started from Albireo as a warm up. While star hopping I found an open cluster that I could not identify with precision: I thought I was below Cygnus, but really I must have been right in the middle and saw NGC 6871. It was quite bright, so I would exclude NGC 6834...

My goal these days has been M81 and M82. Yesterday I tried and I tried but couldn't find them at all, then when I focused on the Northern sky I realized that the clouds had covered the Western/Southern half and were moving in everywhere. Now, with binoculars the double cluster was underwhelming, very washed out by light pollution, and I could just make out the Andromeda galaxy. But in the Mak, at 60x, M31 was less than underwhelming, barely more visible than with binoculars. I had a beautiful view of it in the past in Bortle 4 skies with binoculars, it breaks my heart to see how bad Bortle 7 really is. 

I started walking home early, just after 9pm, byt on the way I found a square in the neighborhood where the whole of the lower Eastern sky was visible - including Jupiter. I set up by a bench and took in the beautiful view of Jupiter with Callisto far on the left and Io close to the planet - Europa and Ganymede on the other side. The two orange bands were the only detail I could make out, with ideal viewing at 100x and 120x - at 200x focusing was still possible but the atmospheric turbulence made it go in and out of focus, like someone was blowing steam on it. At the same time, I alternated using my binoculars on the Pleiades because they are and will remain one of the most beautiful objects in the night sky. 

Before going, some clouds disappeared temporarily, and I turned around to find the Ring Nebula, which showed as a faint - but somehow well defined - circle in the sky.

The best choice I made yesterday night was to leave at the time I did. While I saw Saturn in the sky while going home, it got swallowed by clouds in less than 5 minutes. When I got home, the sky wasn't visible anymore - with the forecast still showing clear skies...