Time outside: 21:45 – 23:10

Alignment process: 2-star (and seemingly successful, post about alignment woes still in the pipeline)

Conditions: After cloudy all day, even up to 21:00, I wasn’t anticipating any observing. But while in the kitchen making…well, I forgot about making the coffee as I looked outside, and it was clear. Quick! To the astroshed! Get those optics outside and start cooling down!

What I observed:

1. Jupiter. Have to, really. My sketch (yes, really) shows two easily visible bands, and four moons, two either side

2. 38-Geminorum – twins in the Twins. A fine pairing, even if just to test the resolving power of the telescope.

3. zeta Geminorum – not really straying too far around the sky here, but this is a Cepheid, so I’ll keep an eye on it.

4. Castor/Pollox, just as they were close

Other:

I also tried my old camera for some pictures, but as it doesn’t have a ‘live view’, too ancient for that, nothing focused. So rather than steal my daughter’s camera, I decided I’d stick with visual observing and not waste any more time faffing. Speaking of daughter, she was out for a bit too, ooh-ing over Jupiter, and being impressed with doubles.

Summary:

All in all, not a bad time. I have no great desire to go swinging from one side of the sky to the other, I am happy to hunt around in the same area, getting to know the inhabitants.