Jupiter highlights a mostly clear night
by
Telescope Operators:
Tom Thibault – 12” Meade
Jim Brenek - Helper
Jim Hendrickson – Helper
Open: 7:00 – Closed: 9:00
We had a clear day, but forecasts had predicted increasing cloudiness for the evening. When we opened at 7:00 the skies were still star filled with a milky haze on the eastern horizon. Our first group of guests included Tom Gilson, a fellow Skyscrapers member. Tom had come up with his wife, daughter, and other family members. Tom’s daughter noted that her birthday was coming very soon, and proudly indicated she would be six years old. The telescope was pointed at M57, the Ring Nebula and Tom’s daughter described it as a circle with a dark hole inside.
Guests continued to arrive, 15-20 this evening. Even though the clouds continued to thicken, all were treated to views of Uranus and Jupiter. It actually appeared that the thin clouds improved the view of Jupiter which was rather low above the horizon. It was noted that one of Jupiter’s moons had disappeared. Ganymede had been occulted by Jupiter’s shadow during our viewing session.
We continued to scan the evening sky and viewed objects such as M15, M31, and M45. Despite the thickening clouds these objects were enjoyed by our guests. We were also treated during the evening by three meteors which released an “Oh Wow” from those who saw them streak across the sky. As the evening progressed, a family friend, Jo-Anne and her son Brian joined us and stayed for the rest of the evening. As the evenings viewing continued, the cloud cover reversed its course and by the end of the night had cleared.
What had appeared to be possibly a questionable evening for viewing actually turned out nice enough to remain open. We were able to share some great views to our guests and invoked some great discussions about our celestial neighbors.
Submitted by Tom Thibault
