Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Astronomical Decorations ..on your eyeball. Got a pretty clear night and continued checking out the sky. Got a peek at M1, the Crab Nebula, that I'd been seeing refered to in pottery. It was a small fuzzy patch in my scope. But I'm amazed to find stuff at all, plus the historical significance of the nebula made up for the lack of detail. Also, M44...a great bunch of stars. ..and then the planet I'd been waiting for, Jupiter. I've been wanting to see this one for quite awhile. Its been in the trees or the sky has been cloudy, but last night I got my chance. About midnight I had a good look at it. I could see two bands near the equator pretty well. I *think* I saw a spot which I sketched at the time. A bit of research today, and it now looks it could have been Io transiting...that would be pretty cool.. It was quite faint, 'tho. I also saw Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. 10:46:18 AM