Lunar X + Lunar V 27/07/20

Hi Aubrey,

Monday night reminded of an early episode of 'The Sky at Night' with the great Sir Patrick Moore.

"I can't see a single star at the moment...it's coming out...there is the Moon...I can see for the moment...no, it's gone again...absolutely infuriating...there's nothing we can do about it!

Well for me it was a similar story, but the object was Jupiter, not the Moon. All was not lost though: I did get approximately four minutes of observing. Jupiter's south equatorial belt was quite prominent; I could see four Galilean Moons; and several stars at 50X. Two of the Moons were flanking Jupiter quite closely.

Hopefully, we'll get some clear skies soon,

All the best,

Darren.

Oh I remember that episode extremely well, Darren!
At least I should say I remember seeing the highlights of it.
That very pleasant gentleman had such a huge refractor - a massive thing.
I wonder where it is today.
Oh! There I go again!
Saying "I wonder" as Patrick used to say so often. Ha Ha Ha!!

I hear through the grapevine we are due to have one or two clear nights on the way. And much calmer conditions too.

So maybe we will be going back to the Sugarloaf to see Comet Neowise one more time.

Clear skies from Aubrey.

Haha.... Nothing wrong with sounding like Sir Patrick. He was first class!

After our non-runner session at the Sugarloaf last week, I'm really looking forward to getting down there again.

In saying that, there's a possibility I'll be observing from my sister's place tomorrow. She lives in Baltinglas, so the sky should be good provided that the sky is clear. If I do get to observe down there I'll let you know how I get on. 

All the best Aubrey, 

Darren.