Planets and Doubles at Home
By David Kingsley

Yikes. I got in today and found that my last message last night didn't get sent. Based on Bill's Montebello sky report and a quick look at sky in Palo Alto, I decided to stay near home Friday rather than go to Montebello.

Very steady skies, Saturn just gorgeous, Io transit a beautiful bright spot when near limb, Jupiter unusually steady and lots of detail. Also, lots of pretty double and multiple stars, including 6 stars in the Trapezium at 240x in my 7 inch Dob.

One of the most attractive new finds for me was omicron 2 in Eridanus, an easy triple made up of a yellow sun- like star, a white dwarf and a red dwarf companion. 32 Eridanus was also great - a miniature Albireo with sharply contrasting yellow and blue.

The little 3x5 book The Night Sky by Ridpath and Tirion is the best I have found for brief and efficient descriptions of great objects to look at in each constellation. It often highlights something I might have overlooked in more comprehensive lists. The small size, simple organization, useful index, and the taste shown in selecting and describing objects has made this one of my most useful atlases. It is a huge help that it also fits in a pocket.

Good luck to everyone on Saturday. I am off to a meeting in Denver. I will take The Night Sky in my pocket and check whether some of the high pressure system of the last two days has worked its way East.