 12-23-2005, 5:55 PM
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Jim
Joined on 05-26-2005
Posts 51
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![Geeked [8-|]](/CS/emoticons/emotion-15.gif) Friday Morning (Dec 23rd) Report
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The night and morning skies have been so darn beautiful and inviting, so this morning at 4:45 I crawled out of bed and put my trusty old 8" in the front yard to cool down. My Florida blood was definitely protesting the BITTER cold, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore, I had to get some eyepiece time. Transparency was good to excellent. Seeing was not as good as I anticipated but I figure it was an average 3/5. I hadn’t seen Saturn and Jupiter in some time, so I made them my primary targets. Saturn was fairly decent. The rings have turned some from last year, but they are still positioned very nicely. I could easily see several of its moons. Saturn is currently in Cancer so the Beehive was a natural next stop. I have always loved that might fine OC! I suspect you have all seen the "hive" plenty of times, but if you haven’t taken the time to really examine that beauty (even with a little magnification), I would recommend it. Jupiter and its moons are always one of my favorite targets, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed this morning. Io, Ganymede, and Callisto were on one side with Europa shining by its lonesome on the other. Under the average seeing conditions, Jupiter certainly didn’t give up the best of detail, but several bands were easily visible across the planet. With neighborhood light pollution and a beautiful 3rd quarter moon shining overhead, deep sky wasn’t really an option, so I decided to turn my attention to the moon. As often as I have studied the moon, I am still awe struck every time I train a scope or binoculars on it. The terminator ran just below Plato, under the Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel group, and just below Maginus to the south. The Straight Wall was visible. Really enjoyed the view until sunrise started completely washing out the sky around 7:00. It was a cold morning, but well worth it! I hope others are getting out also! Merry Christmas to all!
Jim S.
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