Not a good weekend for astronomy

On Friday I learned that the International Space Station, because of orbital characteristics, would be visible many times over the next nights. One of those overflights would take place that night. So at about 10:21 PM I stepped out on to our stoop, looked to the twilight of the western sky, and immediately spotted the ISS. The moving "star" was nearly as bright as planet Venus and quickly climbed high into the sky, nearly overhead, and over the roof of the house. It was at least as interesting to see Venus, Regulus, Mars, and Saturn lined up along the ecliptic. "Probably the best night of the weekend," I wrote, and that turned out to be true.

I called off the Saturday night Public Night at Stephens Memorial Observatory due to mostly cloudy skies. Open areas between the masses of clouds were essentially translucent and totally unsuited to seeing any trace of two Messier List objects we were to see. Reinforcing the decision, a local storm developed north of Hiram possibly even dropping light rain there at the announced opening time for the event.

Tonight, after an exceptionally hot and humid day, waves of rain and strong thunderstorms passed over the region.

Not a good weekend, overall, for astronomy!

Not tonight you don't

I thought it rather optimistic! Monday night was clear and lovely but not a good night for me scheduling-wise for an Observatory session. Tonight my schedule is clear but the sky is not. Rain is expected tomorrow. That's life, I guess! I did confirm the position of Saturn last night, floating beautifully beside bright Regulus, found Mars, and watched Orion sinking into the Western sky. If we are able to open to the students and public Saturday night, Saturn is going to be tricky... the big refractor is going to be tipped high, very high, which means the eyepiece is going to be very low. Still, it will be worth the effort -- it nearly always is.