Sadly, not much observing to report over the past months! The demands of "real life" helped distract me from the night sky. Weather - cloudy and rainy skies - have provided the worst issues. That is, if you ignore the fact that the handbox controller failed hobbling my six-inch Meade refractor! I was able to locate and purchase a replacement for the failed handbox and a recent test showed it to be an improvement; it's better than the original!

Most of my observing attempts have been through Open Night events I hosted, or attempted, at Hiram College's Stephens Memorial Observatory. The big refractor there isn't computerized but its nine-inch objective lens gathers plenty of light and is very contrasty. The sky in Hiram, on a clear night, is darker than in the cities allowing the Cooley Telescope to deliver excellent views... when weather permits!

Highlights of the year, so far, were observations from Stephens...

On May 20, on a night threatened by cloudy skies, I observed Jupiter and its Galilean Moons. The best sight of the night, however, was seeing the Great Red Spot rotate into view from Jupiter's limb. Cloud banding was also seen: the equatorial bands and traces of other atmospheric features.

The night of June 24, following evening storms, Jupiter would have been visible from Hiram but quickly dropped behind neighboring trees. Hit of the night was excellent viewing of M57 - the Ring Nebula. The view was clear and bright where usually the ring appears as a dim "gray donut."

July 22: Partly- to mostly-cloudy skies after daytime storms allowed brief decent viewing of Saturn. The seeing was unsteady but I was able to glimpse Titan and several of Saturn's smaller moons, the Cassini Division, and some atmospheric banding! The rings were tilted at an open angle allowing optimal viewing.

See the weather theme?

And that's pretty much it! Recent years and, particularly, last year and this (so far) have seemed increasingly cloudy at night. I'm hoping my efforts to improve observing from home will allow more opportunistic viewing; future efforts may include building a tall, permanent telescope pier or purchase of a new telescope of Cassegrain design ... the long refractor's eyepiece demands neck strain as I point the scope higher towards the zenith to avoid serious light pollution here!