Observing Notesfrom the Tuckahoe IrregularsA small group of stargazers showed tonight despite the weatherman's prediction of clouds. Observers included Steve Long, Bob Bunge, Tom Pomponio, young Fritz Plinke along with his father and brother and myself. On the drive over the sky was clear with some clouds approaching from the west. The planets were the first target of the evening. Mercury was too close to the horizon and in the clouds so I missed it. I was able to get a twilight view of Saturn. Venus and Mars were still close enough together to get both in a low power eyepiece. Jupiter is higher in the sky and I was able to wait for darker skies. It was a steady night and Jupiter was very nice, making it a good target for the scouts that stopped by. Once it was dark the clouds started to come in and we had to look for DSOs where there were holes. I was able to observe a few messier objects before the clouds socked it in. The objects I got were M3, M53, M44, M81 and M82. I packed up and headed home about 10 PM. Keith Lohmeyer |