Sugarloaf Observing this evening

Dave, the weather people are saying there is some rain coming in from the Atlantic tonight. (What's new?). I am not free tonight anyway, but I could go to the Sugarloaf tomorrow evening instead when clearer skies are promised. Jupiter, Mercury and Venus will still be in conjunction over the next 5 days.

Aubrey.

Evening all. It seems we have another opportunity to head up the SugarLoaf tonight to have a go at seeing the 3 planets in conjunction. I plan to be up there at 9pm. Venus will appear at 9.30 if skies are clear. Michael Murphy has just phoned me saying he is on his way. Let battle commence with those clouds!

Aubrey.

Best of luck with it Aubrey, I hope you see it.
We're having no luck down here, all cloud.

Sorry to hear you were clouded out Dave.

We had some success seeing the three planets between gaps in the cloud.

I managed to take a photo .
It's a bit blurred as I didn't have enough time to focus properly and then had to rotate the camera to frame the shot.

Thanks to Ken Finlay and Aubrey Glazier for turning out.

Michael.

... meanwhile, somewhere else in Wicklow ...

I went to the car park at Ballynultagh Gap that lies between Sorrel Hill and Black Hill on the Sally Gap road that leads out of Lacken. The site overlooks Poulaphouca Reservoir and is marked on the Dublin & North Wicklow Mountains sheet of the series produced by East-West Mapping. I picked this site because it often clouds up the eastern side of the Wicklow Mountains in the evening time whereas on the western side, where I was, can be clear. The location also gave a perfect horizon to catch the planetary trio of Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury.

I first caught sight of Venus and Jupiter in the 15x70mm binoculars just before 9:45pm (BST). I then spotted Mercury in the same field of view a couple of minutes later. Venus was visible to the unaided eye also but not the other two planets. By 10:10pm though I was able to see Mercury and Jupiter as well as Venus with the unaided eye. Spotting Mercury required looking at its location and waiting for it to pop into view.

I stayed on location and in touch with Aubrey, Ken, and Michael on the phone until around 11pm before heading back to Dublin. I'm really glad I tried this site as an observing location as it certainly proved a worthwhile trip. The southern aspect is blocked a little by Black Hill but not by much. Ballynultagh Gap is a bit exposed but is in a particularly beautiful area. The lights of Ballymore Eustace are visible to the southwest but they may not interfere much -- I may need to go to the site when it is truly dark to gauge any effect of light pollution.

Hope to head out later in the week to the same site so feel free to give me a call or PM me if interested in tagging along. We'll probably meet at the Texaco garage between the Spawell and M50 roundabouts beforehand so people can all travel as a group. We could also try the Slademore site at the back of Saggart Hill as that is closer to the City and gives a good horizon towards the west/northwest.

Clear skies!

John

P.S., Saturn was visible just before I left and looking at the ground added the Earth to make a total of five planets seen tonight :laugh:

I'm knackered. Hauling around a 6.2" apochromatic refractor has its effects on me -putting it in the car, taking it out of the car on arrival at the Sugarloaf, putting it back in the car after observing and then bringing it back into the house close to midnight. I only jaded now at work.
However, it was all very much worth while -to have another opportunity to witness the triple planetary conjunction. When I arrived at the Sugarloaf at 8.45pm, I had huge doubts would I get to see anything at all. There was simply a huge mound of black cloud hanging over the western sky and it was not moving. Ken Finlay arrived after 9pm, and the black cloud was changing shape but not moving much. When Michael Murphy arrived, the cloud was still in its position, but it was slowly breaking up. First I saw Jupiter, then Venus. It seemed an age before we saw Mercury, and immediately a big cheer went up. I could see all 3 planets in my 70mm apochromatic refractor in the same field of view at 15X which has a field of view of 4.5 degrees. A most memorable sight! And a second time in 4 days to see Venus, Jupiter and Mercury and yet another historical night for me.

All 3 of us have agreed we might do it all again on Wednesday. It only takes me 30 minutes to get from Ranelagh to the Sugarloaf car park. So come and Join us! By all means, check the weather first.

Aubrey.