03/29/2004 2330 UTC
I bagged two new Messier objects: M38, an open cluster in Auriga and M41. Neither of these seemed particularly impressive in my small scope. Not like M42, M44 and M45, which definitely are worth a look whenever they're around (so I did).
Tracking and pointing troubles were pretty much as usual. I went for Jupiter and Saturn and had to futz with the manual positioning controls quite a bit to get them in the finder, let alone the eyepiece.
Jupiter was pretty. I just checked the planetarium program. As I'd hoped, I did indeed see the Great Red Spot (or at least the "notch" it causes in the south temperate-zone cloud band). It came around from behind the planet about 8:30 PM and was well onto the face by 9.There were also two of the Galilean moons transiting the planet while I was watching. I saw them disappear, but I didn't have enough contrast (and magnification!) to determine if they went behind the planet or (as was the case) in front.
I also spotted Saturn's moon Titan.
Early on, the seeing was pretty good. Later, the seeing deteriorated, though sky transparency was good throughout. We quit about 9:30. When you start getting frost on your equipment, you know it's cold! (It was 26 when I got home; when I left at 6:15 it was 40.)
This page copyright (c) 2003 - 2004 by David A. Wallace.