Comet Lovejoy again

I've been watching Venus and Mercury the past few days.  Of course the skies have been pretty clear since Saturday night! Tonight was spectacular: clear, dry, cool but not too cold so I decided to set up the ETX.  After fumbling with the alignment a few times I was finally able to center on M45 and star hop to Lovejoy. It was  just ok and a bit disappointing.  I think the view might even be better in my 10x50s. The problem is the nearby street light and security light across the street combination. Between the two there is enough stray light to choke a horse. An improvised light shade made a noticeable difference.  A bit higher magnification would have helped too.  Other than that, the view was steady so at least Judy was able to get a peek at this fairly rare event. I finished off by reporting my sighting of Orion on Globeatnight.org.  My limiting magnitude of 4 was actually pretty good compared to all the 1s, 2s, and 3s I saw from around the world.  There was one 7 reported from a remote site in Japan.

Special Event at the Park

Tonight I gave a presentation on Astro101 at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park to about 27 visitors. I spoke for about a half hour on the basics of optical aids, star charts, and citizen science then we moved to the patio outside where we were able to see Venus and Mercury.  Most had not seen Mercury before. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and we weren't able to see much more.  A little bit of Orion was visible occasionally. The talk was well received but the highlight for me was spotting a large brown tarantula on the way in on the driveway about 5:00. Judy had fun talking to a four year old boy who had 'seen an alien'. We finished up about 8:00pm. This was not advertised and the park staff were pleased with the turnout. We plan to repeat in Feb and March.

Comet Lovejoy

Finally a clear night.  It has been cold and cloudy, even rainy, pretty much all year so far in 2015.  Today about noon it cleared off and we had a beautiful day.  Judy and I did a bit of geocaching about 4:30 and picked up several along Military Highway just south of us, including a 'thorn in my side' that has bugged me for awhile, and a D4 that was just put out recently. The D4 was laying on the ground! It had fallen from it's perch so I signed the log, took the D4, and slid it back into its hidey hole. After that we grabbed a bite to eat at Las Comales, practiced our Spanish a bit, and zipped back down to the park to see if Venus and Mercury were going to be visible during the 'event' tomorrow. They were and will be.  Beautiful in the west at 6:30 pm. They have pulled apart a bit since I last saw them a couple of weeks ago but still pretty close, less than 6 degrees. Tonight I pulled out the lounge and went looking for Comet Lovejoy.  I used M41 as a pointer and my trusty 10x50s.  Follow the line of Eta Tau and 23 Tau about 12 degrees NW to find a large-ish fuzzball.  I did not see a tail but the comet itself is fairly bright.  I admired it until clouds moved in about 10:00.  This should be quite a treat tomorrow night if the weather cooperates.