Great Jupiter but no comet

Saturday night's (Oct. 9) Open Night at Stephens Memorial Observatory went pretty well. In all we had 28 visitors take a look at Jupiter, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Perseid Double Cluster. I'd hoped and planned to view Comet Hartley 2 but could not find it to save my life! The skies improved as the night went on and by the time I closed, a little after 10:00, the Double Cluster was a naked eye object high over campus and the Milky Way was visible overhead. Our views of Jupiter were among the best I've enjoyed at Stephens. The Southern Equatorial Band is still missing, apparently obscured by high cirrus clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere. The northern band was easily seen but, more remarkable was the fact that we could make out numerous other, much more subtle, cloud bands in the northern and southern hemispheres. When we began the night's explorations, only three of the Galilean Moons were to be seen: three in a triangle on one side. After 9:00, however, Io put in an appearance albeit by itself on the opposite limb of the planet.It was a fine night at the observatory.