Hi all.
I did not expect to have clear skies for 2 hours last Thursday night. The skies went overcast at about 10pm. I set up the scope at 8 pm. But before that annoyance occurred, I got a nice gibbous view of Venus at 167X.
I then went unto the big fellow -Jupiter. Io was not visible because it was behind Jupiter; but Ganymede, Europa and Callisto looked well at 167X. I had hoped to see Io reappearing from behind Jupiter's shadow at 22.49 but it was totally overcast at 22.10. And there was no sign of any clearance coming.
So I had to make do with the always stunning observation of the Great Red Spot. It looked nice and quite large at 167X jutting southwards out of the South Equatorial Belt. Quite orange too. I could also see some evidence of dark markings in the North Equatorial Belt. I have a book at home which describes them as condensations. I think I could see two. The North and South Polar regions looked reasonably dark also.
I was also very pleased to see a strong Northern Temperate Belt and a dim South Temperate Belt at 167X. 225X made Jupiter look blurred.
I was having a very pleasant evening until that easterly airflow brought in overcast clouds from the Irish Sea. I was intending to observe some nice doubles in Leo before heading for Bootes. Perhaps next time I shall.
Thank you for reading,
Aubrey.
  