Whew! I almost didn't have an entry this year! Since I lost the peep site for the Astroscan, I haven't used it as much. It's pretty hard to find stuff without it (you can't site down the barrel because of the bulbous base). I took it off because the scope got knocked over and it was bent. I never could get it straightened out again. The scopes been knocked around a lot. It's pretty tough.

I haven't looked at a star chart in a while but it was nice to know I still remembered the constellations well enough to know that Gemini had an extra "star" below it. I knew it was Saturn by the size and color. Seeing was okay. Saturn is turned for the maximum angle of the rings right now. Ruth and Allison looked at it too. I couldn't make out any bands or the Casini division.

While out, I couldn't pass up a look at the Orion nebula. It wasn't too good because of the nearly half full moon. I looked at the moon too on all magnifications (including the barlow lens).

Wednesday, December 31, 2002 4:48am CT: Jupiter

I couldn't sleep so I decided to see if the sky was clear. It was very clear and my eyes were adjusted to the darkness. My test for a good sky is to see all of the stars in Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). I could see all of them! I could easily make out the Dragon as well. The moon had set and it was a great sky for the naked eye. As for the telescope, there was a lot of moisture in the air and I didn't really give my scope a chance to cool down either time. I saw one small "shooting star".

This time it was Leo with the extra "star". Pretty easy to identify Jupiter. I tried the Nagler 7mm with several filters (nebula was best) but I could only make out the NEB and SEB (barely). No spot. It may not have been my optics or the sky entirely. It was really cold and my eyes were tearing. Jupiter had one moon on the left and the other three on the right - all spaced out about the same.

I took a little time to explore the sky. Looking at the Big Dipper, I "followed the arc to Arcturus", then Spica. I didn't recognize the constellations. I knew what they should be, but I've forgotten some of the Northern constellations. It was pretty cold so I thought I'd better go in and review the northern constellations.

P.S. Weather: 36F but it felt like 29 with wind chill.