2001 December 14: Partial Solar Eclipse
I observed the partial solar eclipse through broken cloudiness. This sketch shows a couple of decent sunspot groups. For much of the duration, the Sun was barely visible due to cloudiness, but there were nice breaks around the maximum and at last contact.
December 13/14: Casual Geminids
It was not supposed to clear off for the Geminid peak. I woke up spontaneously at 4:22am and realized that I could see stars out my window. Well, a few. I checked and found that this was the only area of the sky with thin (rather than thick) clouds. So, I watched out my window. Conditions improved slightly, and at 4:43 I saw a -2 Geminid in Auriga. A -1 Geminid followed two minutes later. Six more Geminids and a couple of sporadics followed over the next half hour as clouds receded and then returned. At 5:25, it looked like it might really clear off. I made the decision to get dressed, go outside and undertake a meteor count, but the 10 minutes of preparation time meant that I wasn't watching Geminids. As I went out, the first clouds appeared. 1 minute (and 1 Geminid) into my watch, the skies became too cloudy to observe. I saw one fireball through the clouds, but the sky was soon 100% obstructed and even Jupiter disappeared. So, that was that.
December 11/12: More Geminids
More fitful clearing meant another Geminid watch. Interrupted by fog a couple of times, I managed 1.42 hours of Teff under LM 6.4 skies. I saw a total of 51 meteors, including 33 Geminids. A full report is here.
December 10/11: Early Geminids
With grim forecasts for the peak nights, I decided to do an extended meteor session to catch some early Geminids. I viewed from 9:28-12:54 UT (1:28-4:54am PST), accumulating 2.73 hours Teff after subtracting a couple of breaks due to clouds. Average LM was around 6.5 with some fog. In this period, I saw 28 Geminids, 47 sporadics, and a few members of minor showers for a total of 87 meteors. Full report is here.
December 9/10: C/2000 WM1 Update
I got another look at the comet. I estimate its magnitude at 5.8 and tail length 1.5 - 2 degrees. The coma diameter and tail width seemed narrower than during the last observation.
December 6/7: C/2000 WM1 Update
After a long string of cloudy nights, I was again able to catch this brightening comet. I had been concerned that it would slip below the southern horizon before I got a decent look. Tonight brought fair skies and a chance for extended observation of this impressive object.
The comet was <2 degrees N of Beta Ceti, about 30 degrees above the horizon but in the part of the sky destined to host all of the passing clouds and a bit of wood smoke. LM high in the sky was 6.7, but it was at least a half magnitude worse near the comet. The comet was visible but not obvious to the naked eye.
At 27x (sketch), the comet showed a scarcely elongated nucleus of stellar intensity. A pattern of 4 or more jets sprang out into the round, surprisingly indistinct coma. The largest of these jets took off to the NE (PA~60) to form the base of a tail. The tail was obviously there, but difficult to make coherent. There seemed to be two tail branches, one in PA~60 and the other in PA~30. The tails remained merged for 0.5 degrees, then possibly split. At times, the more northerly tail seemed to have a filamentary appearance, suggesting an ion tail. A disconnection event may also have been present 0.5 degrees from the nucleus, as this tail seemed brighter there. The easterly tail had a more cottony appearance, suggesting a dust tail. The two tails were comparable in brightness, and extended for at least 1.5 degrees.
In 8x56 binoculars (sketch), the comet was impressive. The coma, 15-20' in diameter, seemed flattened perpendicular to the tail axis, although nearby field stars probably exaggerated this appearance. The tail, with the large eastern jet, was obvious and extended north for ~2.5 degrees. It was difficult to distinguish two different tail branches, but a possible split was ~1 degree from the nucleus. The southwestward motion of the comet was obvious over a matter of minutes.
November 19/20: C/2000 WM1
The weather was not expected to clear off, but it did. I stepped out briefly to view Comet LINEAR in binoculars. The comet, as during most previous observations, was accompanied by a retinue of field stars. The combination was easily visible to the naked eye (LM=6.9). The coma diameter continues to grow, and there are two extensions: to the West and to the South.
November 7/8: More C/2000 WM1 Observations, Taurids
I observed the comet again. Its appearance was similar to last night, but there seemed to bee more condensation. Without any field stars infolved, I got a better feel for the extent of the coma and elongation. The elongation certainly looks like the beginning of a tail. Two curious jetlike features come out the sides of the condensation (at the narrow point of the coma) and sweep backward. I sketched the comet at 27x.
I watched the sky casually for meteors between 9:20 and 10:00pm PST. I saw 7 Taurids and 4 sporadics. None of the Taurids exceeded magnitude 3, and the brightest meteor was a slow, magnitude 2 sporadic.
November 6/7: Comet C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR)
This 9th-magnitude comet was visible in 8x56 binoculars as a standard smudge. In the 60mm refractor @ 79x, the coma was rather diffuse and ill-defined. However, I sometimes noted tantalizing glimpses of detail. The comet appears to be elongated westward, with no apparent nucleus. The elongation/tail fades out gradually, while the opposite side of the coma ends abruptly. At this small aperture, some faint field stars caused confusion over the coma's true extent and shape while I tried to make out detail with averted vision. A sketch is here.
November 5/6: Huge, Red Auroral Display
I was unaware of the auroral alerts and returning home from a trip when I spied a red glow out my car window, among the stars of Perseus. Thus began my best auroral experience of the year so far. The handle of the Big Dipper was engulfted in a red glow, shot through with yellow rays that resembled searchlight. The horizon from North to East was very bright, with blue and yellow-green horizontal bands. Red was the most prominent color in this display, however. After the initial display subsided at 7pm PST, I continued down the road. Every so often, I pulled off to check the aurora. The most impressive event occurred near 8:15pm PST. The sky around Auriga appeared to be on flame, a crimson cloud laced with golden threads. Throughout the evening hours, the aurora was obvious. Slightly less impressive enhancements were visible around 9pm and from 10:45pm-11:05pm.
Orionid Meteor Shower
As of October 21, I have managed 7 hours of observations over three mornings. I have seen 194 meteors, 91 of which were Orionids. Orionid rates have varied from 2 to 18 per hour under skies of limiting magnitude 6.3 to 6.5. From my observations, the shower appears to be behaving normally so far this year.
October 17/18 capsule description: I got in three hours of observing under fairly frigid conditions (25F, dropping to 22). There was a disappointing milky background caused by high cirrus, and this put a slight damper on the limiting magnitudes (6.4). The first hour was all-around unimpressive, with only 2 Orionids. The other hours were better with 8 Orionids each. Taurids were noticeably active, and the last hour was a surprise with 5 Epsilon Geminids. Totals: 8 Taurids, 18 Orionids, 8 Epsilon Geminids, 7 Apex Radiant meteors, 25 Sporadics. (Full Data)
October 18/19 capsule description: There wasn't any cirrus this morning, but LMs were about the same (LM=6.5). Perhaps local wood stove smoke was to blame. Temperature was more moderate, 28-30F. In any case, meteor rates were much better, especially the Orionids. Taurids were active but dim, Epsilon Geminids were almost absent, and the Northern Apex produced 9 meteors. Totals: 11 Taurids, 45 Orionids, 3 Epsilon Geminids, 12 Apex meteors, 29 Sporadics. (Full Data)
October 20/21 capsule description: I planned on doing two hours this morning, but was delayed by half-cloudy skies at 3:45am (10:45 UT). After a bit, the sky cleared quickly, leaving behind some moisture-laden haze. I got an hour in, although I did deal with some clouds in the latter part of the session. Orionids were about as active as during my last session. Totals: 2 Taurids, 17 Orionids, 1 Epsilon Geminid, 1 Apex meteor, 7 Sporadics. (Full Data)
2001 October 12/13
Time frame: Evening, 3:30-5:45UT
Weather: clear, some local smoke, 45F
Moon: not in sky
LM: 6.7 Seeing: 4/10
Objects noted: NGC 457, M33, M13, M27
I decided to sketch examples from each major class of deep-sky object, to get me out of my deep-sky blues. It wasn't a good night for planetary viewing due to poor seeing, and besides I have been neglecting the deep sky in favor of planets and meteors. It's true that I've seen most of the objects that are visible in the SOD, but some of these I haven't experienced for a while. I may not have sketched M27 at this aperture since my first run through the Messier list 10 years ago.
So, with a Friday night light dome from the homecoming game in the south, and some wood stove smoke around the horizons, I observed:
NGC 457: The stars tell the story and paint a picture. The brightest star is yellowish or yellow-orange, but what about the other "eye"? On different occasions, I've perceived it as blue or red. Tonight it tended toward the ruddy side. I used 27x to mark the brighter stars, then filled in at 79x.
M33: A giant with a soft, cottony glow. Thre stars, plus a less prominent little grouping, more or less frame the galaxy. There is a discernible but poorly differentiated core which appears round most of the time. Extensions to the NW and especially the SE stand out vaguely from a faint, evenly-illuminated background. The field is quite rich in faint stars. M33's appearance seems to change with every glance; averted vision always highlights a certain feature while temporarily concealing others.
M13: Strikingly bright and condensed in contrast to M33, this grand globular does not give up its stellar secrets easily when probed with a mere 60mm of aperture. At first, one might agree with Messier that "it contains no star." There is a bright core, somewhat elongated. Outward from this are some areas of medium brightness, and a number of spiky, curving extensions. A fainter halo adds to the perceived extent of the cluster. Like M33, this object makes one continuously reassess any impressions. At times, the cluster appears more elongate, at others nearly round. The shape of the core is also liquified by tricks of the eye. There are always chainlike extensions visible, and just a few stars are eventually resolved here. With just a bit more aperture, these would explode into stardust, and there is some general mottling visible even in the SOD. A few more stars are resolved just outside the core region, and at times there is a curious bright knot near the center of the core.
M27: More subtle than M13, the Dumbbell Nebula nevertheless has a striking angular presence. It can be seen that there are two conjoined halves, of slightly differing shapes and brightnesses. The lobe to the upper left (NE) in sketch appears more diffuse and round, while that to the lower right is more sharply defined and elongate. This latter lobe also has some brighter areas within. The neck joining the two halves is more strongly indented on the right edge. The central star is not visible.
9/10/2001:
Saturn Occulted by Moon: Despite variable cloudiness, I was able to observe the lunar occultation of Saturn. I was using my 60mm refractor at 79x. The Moon's bright limb first contacted Saturn's rings on their south preceding edge. Perhaps the most inspiring sight of the disappearance came after the planet's disc was covered. For a few seconds the arc of rings hovered over the lunar limb like a solar loop prominence. There was a wonderful color contrast between the warm, subdued tan of Saturn and the glaring lunar surface.
Reappearance came during twilight, with only thin clouds present. I caught Saturn as a point of light growing into a tiny sliver. Reappearance was more gradual than disappearance, but after a short time Saturn was whole again.
Approximate contact times from Chiloquin (42.576N, 121.867W):
Contact 1: 12:11:37 UT
Contact 2: 12:13:03 UT
Contact 3: 13:01:22 UT
Contact 4: 13:03:43 UT
8/27/2001:
Fading Nova, Two Dim Comets in Morning Sky: This morning, I checked out Nova Cygni 2001 No. 2 for the second time. This outburst, which reached 6th or 7th magnitude, has faded to magnitude 10.0. Finder charts with comparison stars are available from the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
Two faint comets are visible in the same portion of the morning sky. P/2001 Q2 (Petriew), discovered last week, is in Gemini near M35. 19P/Borrelly is in the club of Orion. Both are around magnitude 10 and were just visible in my 60mm refractor. Sketches of Petriew and Borrelly.
Moving to Comet Petriew's position, I picked out a faint fuzz at 27x. At 79x, the comet appeared more or less round and fairly condensed. At times averted vision revealed a faint outer halo. The comet's eastward motion was detectable over an hour's time.
Borrelly was tougher. I suspected a nebulous presence at 27x. When I increased the power to 79x, the comet was seen very near a field star of 11th magnitude. The comet was difficult to hold with direct vision. It appeared round and rather condensed, like Petriew. However, Borrelly was smaller and fainter. I also observed Borrelly at its last perihelion passage in 1994. At that time, the comet became one of the stars of Pisces to Arcturus.
8/20/2001:
OREGON STAR PARTY 2001: From August 16-19, I attended the Oregon Star Party near (50+ road miles from) Prineville, OR. Despite a bit of forest fire smoke, especially on the first night, skies were decent. OSP offers an opportunity to view through a variety of scopes under (often) pristine skies. I made a few sketches of deep sky objects through my 60mm refractor and looked at many others. The highlight of the party, however, was the good to excellent seeing each morning. With Jupiter and Saturn nicely placed during deep twilight, I spent most of my time hanging near Scott Turner's 12.5" f/6 Dob with equatorial tracking platform. I couldn't take the time to make sketches of course, but did enjoy the crisp views. During the daytime, a variety of filtered scopes were pointed at the Sun.
OSP Sketch Gallery:
8/15/2001:
Daytime Occultation of Jupiter: Due to an errand that ran overtime, I was unable to watch Jupiter's disappearance. I did see most of the reappearance. Jupiter was already partially uncovered by the time I noticed its ghostly crescent! emerging from apparently empty space and growing to full phase by the second. When the planet had completely emerged, the most prominent marking was the bright equatorial zone; less obvious were the poleward boundaries of the two equatorial belts.
8/14/2001:
PERSEID Meteor Shower: I observed this favorite annual meteor shower on four nights and logged a total of 8.5 observing hours, 199 Perseids, and 87 other meteors. While rates were not at their best because of moonlight interference and placement of the maximum in daytime hours for my longitude, I could hardly call this shower a disappointment. Here are links to full observing reports for August 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, and 13/14. Visit the North American Meteor Network for more information on meteor observing.
8/6/2001:
Morning Planets impressive: This morning I awoke and looked out on another stunning planetary conjunction. Jupiter and Venus were less than 1.5 degrees apart, with Mu Geminorum in between. In a 60mm refractor at 27x, the planets sat at opposite ends of the field. Glaring white Venus contrasted with the creamy, more subdued Jupiter. A hint of Venus's gibbous phase was visible through all the glare and chromatic aberration. Three of Jupiter's attendant moons were also visible. The ruddy field star glinted and twinkled between these two solar system denizens.
8/1/2001:
Comet LINEAR fades some more: While still an easy binocular object, C/2001 A2 has passed the naked eye threshold and I no longer detect a tail in binoculars or my small scope. The coma is less condensed and nearly round, with very little structure. The comet now resembles a poorly condensed globular cluster or galaxy. Compare sketches from July 17 and August 1.
7/31/2001:
More Meteors: I've had three more meteor observing sessions. One can certainly observe a lot of meteors during moon-free mornings in this part of the year. However, no one radiant produces a lot of meteors. Also, many of the meteors are faint (in contrast to major shower maxima which produce a brighter mean magnitude. I only saw one fireball during my five nights of observing (a -3 sporadic) and two magnitude -2 meteors (an Alpha Capricornid and a Northern Apex). Below are observation summaries:
Meteor Count for July 27/28 10:00-11:18 UT (3:00-4:18 PDT)
Observing time: 1.25 hours. Mean limiting magnitude: 6.7
Location: Chiloquin, OR. Latitude 42.576N Longitude 121.867W
Meteor Stream Number of Meteors Mean Magnitude
Alpha Capricornids 1 1.0
Antihelion 2 4.0
North Delta Aquarids 3 2.7
South Delta Aquarids 5 3.8
Piscis Austrinids 0 --
North Apex 3 3.0
South Apex 1 4.0
Perseids 6 3.5
Sporadics 27 3.5
Total 48
Meteor Count for July 28/29 9:10-11:14 UT (2:10-4:14 PDT)
Observing Time: 2.0 hours. Mean Limiting Magnitude: 6.7
Location: Chiloquin, OR.
Meteor Stream Number of Meteors Mean Magnitude
Alpha Capricornids 7 2.0
Antihelion 1 3.0
North Delta Aquarids 5 3.0
South Delta Aquarids 13 2.8
Piscis Austrinids 1 2.0
North Apex 2 3.0
South Apex 2 3.0
Perseids 4 2.7
Sporadics 40 3.0
Total 75
Meteor Count for July 30/31 10:00-11:02 UT (3:00-4:02 PDT)
Observing Time: 1.0 hours. Mean Limiting Magnitude: 6.6 F Cloudiness Factor: 1.06
Location: Chiloquin, OR
Meteor Stream Number of Meteors Mean Magnitude
Alpha Capricornids 2 4.0
Antihelion 1 3.0
North Delta Aquarids 2 2.5
South Delta Aquarids 6 2.8
Piscis Austrinids 0 --
North Apex 3 0.7
South Apex 0 --
Perseids 3 3.0
Sporadics 12 2.6
Total 29
7/27/2001:
July Meteors: On each of the past two nights, I have spent two early morning hours observing meteors. I mainly want to practice up for the August Perseids, as I hadn't observed meteors in earnest since January. A number of radiants are active in late July, and the concentration of activity around Aquarius and Capricornus makes it difficult to determine which stream a meteor belongs to. Not wishing to undertake systematic plotting, I did the best I could by holding a shoestring up to a meteor's path and extending this path backward. Some paths inevitably crossed two radiants; in these case, relative speed was sometimes useful to determine the radiant of best fit.
On July 25/26, most meteors were faint, the brightest and most impressive being a magnitude 0 Alpha Capricornid that was orange and left fragments in its wake. A couple of Great Horned Owls added sound effects in the cool, crisp morning darkness.
Meteor Count for July 25/26 8:45 UT-11:01 UT (1:45-4:01 PDT)
Observing time: 2.0 hours. Mean limiting magnitude: 6.7
Location: Chiloquin, OR. Latitude 42.576N Longitude 121.867W
Meteor Stream Number of Meteors Mean Magnitude
Alpha Capricornids 3 1.7
Antihelion 2 3.0
North Delta Aquarids 3 3.0
South Delta Aquarids 9 3.7
Piscis Austrinids 0 --
North Apex 5 2.8
South Apex 0 --
Perseids 3 4.7
Sporadics 21 3.2
Total 46
On July 26/27, activity was somewhat better and brighter. The South Delta Aquarids, the most active meteor shower at the time, showed no improvement in rates over the previous morning. The Perseids, however, came alive with an observed rate of 5/hour.
Meteor Count for July 26/27 9:07-11:11 UT (2:07-4:11 PDT)
Observing time: 2.0 hours. Mean Limiting Magnitude: 6.7
Location: Chiloquin, OR.
Meteor Stream Number of Meteors Mean Magnitude
Alpha Capricornids 7 3.8
Antihelion 1 6.0
North Delta Aquarids 4 2.0
South Delta Aquarids 8 3.1
Piscis Austrinids 4 3.0
North Apex 3 3.0
South Apex 2 2.0
Perseids 10 3.2
Sporadics 23 3.1
Total 62
Comet LINEAR's Slow Decline: The comet has slowly faded.and is now around magnitude 6.5. It remained a marginal naked eye object on the morning of July 27 in dark skies. On July 26, the comet showed a poorly condensed, elongated coma with no clear indication of a tail in 8x56 binoculars.
7/17/2001:
Venus Occulted by Moon: I set up at 10am PDT. At 10:07, Venus was about 3' off the Moon's bright limb, north of center. Although both objects were plain as day to the naked eye, I used 79x in my 60mm refractor to get a sense of the planet's phase during the disappearance. Venus showed a bright gibbous disc with a few dusky markings, but overall the seeing was poor. By 10:14, a realtime motion effect was noted as the Moon crept closer to Venus. First contact was about 10:15:24 PDT. Venus shrank to a pinpoint of light that lingered for a second and disappeared at 10:16:04 PDT. Awesome! During reappearance, high clouds plagued me. I used 27x to keep the Moon in view. I was only able to see part of the reappearance, as clouds covered the planet's emergence until 11:42:18 PDT. Venus grew brighter and rounder until last contact, estimated at 11:42:41 PDT.
Gathering in the Morning Sky: Oh, my goodness! This morning at around 4am, I saw the extremely spectacular grouping of objects in the morning sky. Dazzling Venus, oval Saturn, the Moon and ruddy Aldebaran formed a trapezoid that fit nicely in my 6 degree binocular field. Four singular objects in one view! On Luna, the rabbit's head and ears (Mares Serenitatis, Tranquillitatis, Nectaris and Fecundatis) stood out a ghostly blue-black against the warmer glow of Earthshine.
More from Comet LINEAR: The comet was very beautiful this morning, especially in the 60mm refractor at 27x. In general, the comet has faded somewhat, from m1=5.0 on July 15 to 5.3 this morning. However, the brightest section of the main tail is brighter than ever. In the small scope with a wide field of view, the comet is a bold brushstroke against a black sky studded with starry diamonds! The nuclear area appeared sausage-shaped with a pattern of jets around it. See the sketch for more details.
7/16/2001:
Venus: During a daytime observing session to prepare for the occultation on 7/17, I observed dusky markings on Venus, as shown in the sketch here.
Mars: After being thwarted by clouds for several days, I got in a good view of Mars. A color sketch is here. Features I can positively identify on the sketch include (from darkest to lightest): Iapygia, Syrtis Major, Mare Tyrrhenium, Mare Serpentis, Sinus Sabaeus, Aeria, South Polar Cap, and Hellas.
7/15/2001: Comet LINEAR is still a naked eye object, and now has a rather prominent tail as shown in this binocular sketch. After you follow the comet into morning twilight, make sure you look at the planetary groupings in the eastern sky: Saturn/Venus (sketch here) and Jupiter/Mercury.
7/5/2001: As Comet LINEAR rules the morning sky, so Mars rules the evening. I've been getting decent views in my little 60mm refractor, as shown in this sketch. (Note that the image is flipped left to right in the refractor with star diagonal; celestial west or direction of image drift is noted by the arrow; Mars' north pole is essentially to the right.) The most prominent dark feature is the complex of Mare Erythraeum along with Margaritifer Sinus and Aurorae Sinus; the bright region to the south is probably Argyre. The light area in the center of the disk is Chryse; farther north is a complex of Niliacus Lacus and Mare Acidalium.
7/2/2001: Comet LINEAR is still looking good. LINEAR seemed to be a bit more compact and condensed, but about the same brightness. It also seemed to have its tail back, with about 1 degree visible in binoculars. There was a very interesting though faint pattern of jets visible around the nucleus in the SOD, and again a bluish-green tint to this near-nuclear region (telescopic sketch; binocular sketch).
7/1/2001: Comet C/2001 A2 (LINEAR) is the big deal right now, at 4th magnitude and just emerging to become visible from the northern hemisphere.
Observing log notes from June 29: I was able to see the comet from my front yard at 3am PDT, first locating it with binoculars and then with the naked eye. In 8x56 binoculars, the comet appears similar to a very large and bright globular cluster, about 0.4 degrees in diameter. A stellar nucleus is visible, and the brightest part of the coma is displaced to the NE of center. A tail is not immediately apparent. In a 60mm refractor at 27x, the coma retains its fuzzy appearance. A tail is visible, extending about 1 degree. On further examination, the very wide and short tail is also visible in binoculars. There is a conspicuous spike extending from the top of the coma.
The nucleus is embedded in a narrow brighter portion, perpendicular to the tail, which has a bluish hue. Extensions from both ends of this condensation curve tailward. Tailward of the nucleus, and slightly displaced to the bottom of the field, is another slight condensation. A wedge of brighter material marks the beginning of the tail. At times the coma and tail seem to have a dynamic, changing appearance (possibly seeing-related). Higher power dims the overall coma but reveals a faint pattern of jets around the nucleus. (6/29/01, 10:00-11:00 UT, Chiloquin, OR)
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6/30/2000: An extended spell of clear skies means little sleep and lots of observing. I am working on my Binocular Messier list (actually going for the whole list, which I have observed in my 8x56 binox but have not completely documented), checking in on SS Cygni for its imminent outburst (no signs as of June 30.3), and especially looking at Comet 1999S4 (LINEAR). This comet, now about 8th magnitude with a half degree of tail, has a very interesting shape with a condensed nucleus and an intense fountain area of activity. If it continues to develop like this it will be a very interesting object for the next month (but that's a big "if"). I hope to have a couple of sketches on this page by next week. From dark sites, an auroral glow has been visible on the northern horizon most nights, but hasn't organized itself, at least from 45N.
6/4/2000: Two nights of mostly clear skies, two trips to Larch Mountain. Friday night, went up for several hours to get back into the deep sky swing under mag. 6.5 skies. Observed mostly with Scott Turner's 12.5" dob. The old SOD is getting a bit overmatched... Saturday night, the parking lot was full, a few clouds around the edges, more deep sky sights that are old but new.
5/15/2000: Once again, the Sun is showing nice activity, with 3 huge active regions on the west side of the disk. And, we're getting clear weather just in time for Full Moon :(
5/13/2000: This is one of the longest "cloud spells" I can remember. A few hazy days, a few hazy nights, but lots of rain and clouds. The last time I got my scope out was in late April to look at the Sun. A couple of nice sunspot groups then, including one that looked a bit like a rabbit face with ears...
