Top of the kite

It was almost too cloudy tonight but the clouds parted just enough to see Vesta for a fourth time. This time it made a kite-like asterism with Gamma Leonis, 40 Leo, and SAO 99075 with 7th mag SAO 99092 as a kind of tail of the kite. Vesta is now above the pair having passed through probably sometime in the late afternoon. It is still fairly bright although I wasn't able to glimpse it in my 7x35's.
My Seymour Solar filter arrived today. It looks servicable enough although the logo sticker was a bit wrinkled. There don't appear to be any pinholes. I'll give it a shot the next time I see the sun. Now if the sun will just cooperate and throw up a sunspot or two to look at. The Seymour is just a dark film in a frame for the ETX-70 and not a hydrogen alpha filter. It'll be good for watching sunspots and transits but not for solar surface features.

A third night of Vesta

It was clear again tonight so I set up the ETX for another look at Vesta. This time it was just above the 8th mag star near the pair of 40 Leo and Gam Leo and formed a right triangle with that pair with the hypotenuse between 40 and Gamma. It appeared to be a bit brighter than the 7th mag SAO 99092 below 40 Leo. It was again visible in my 7x35's. It's getting closer to passing between the pair but not quite. Perhaps tomorrow?

A second look at Vesta

Vesta was visible again tonight. It was smokey at 9:30 and Vesta kept popping in and out of the haze but it was clearly visible in my 7x35's. Gamma Leo was visible unaided as was dimmer Eta Leo but I had to use binoculars to split the double Gamma Leo and 40 Leo pair. Vesta forms a right triangle with the pair with Vesta just below 40 Leo by about 15'. Vesta should be right in between the pair tomorrow night and will be a nice sight if it is clear.

Viewing Vesta

Finally after a month of clouds and moonlit nights we have a clear night with no moon! And to top it off, the asteroid Vesta is currently moving through Leo and up at 10:30 in my backyard observatory. I hauled out the ETX-70, set it up, and quickly homed in on Gam Leo and... there it was! Vesta! I decided to make a sketch and managed to snag a few 8th magnitude stars in the field. Even Vesta kind of came and went at times but it looks like I can pull in mag 8 at least on a good night. There was plenty of light polution as usual but it was cool and clear with no clouds although there may have been a bit of smoke from Reynosa across the border or some other source of haze. 40 Leo was clearly visible next to Gam Leo and I will have to try to catch Vesta in the coming days as it slides between the two stars. The weatherman is predicting clear skies for the next few nights so I may be in luck.