I had a similar experience last night. I decided to work from my front yard for only the third time at our new home. Unfortunately, the only spot sheltered from streetlights, in either my front or back yards, has overhanging trees. But tonight, that spot was perfectly placed to see both Jupiter and Saturn, as well as Cygnus and Lyra.

I decided to take the C8 out of its case for the first time in months. Jupiter was spectacular, although after working the magnification up to 267x, I worked my way back down to 154x and found that provided the best views. There were moments of excellent seeing, when I too could see fine gradations among numerous subtle bands, as well as some larger festoons and spots. And the transit shadows were great. I also got to see Io and Europa pop out of the King's shadow unexpectedly, that was fun.

I spent some time splitting doubles before Saturn was high enough. The double-double in Lyra was an easy target at only 111x, with clear black between each member. I then checked my ancient Norton's for other good targets in Cygnus and next tried delta Cygni, which Norton's says is 1.9 arc-secs separation but magnitudes of 3.0 and 7.9. I was able to see the dim companion clearly, but only in moments of good seeing; otherwise, it hid in a diffraction ring. Next I tried tau Cygni, which Norton's says is 0.9 arc-secs and magnitudes of 3.8 and 8.0, but I could not clearly see the companion, although there was a bright spot in the diffraction rings that could have been it.

Before I went on to Saturn, I stopped briefly to check out an old friend, the Ring Nebula. Back in high school, it was the first Messier object (or any object other than a planet, for that matter) that I found with my first telescope, so it holds a warm place in my heart. It was washed out in the city lights, but still enjoyable.

Finally, I went to Saturn and really enjoyed the ringed beauty. Cassini's division was clear during moments of good seing, but these came and went. The moons scattered about added a lovely field. The shadow falling on the ring just before it wrapped behind the planet, as well as the ring's shadow on the front of the gas giant, added interesting touches and gave a real feeling of depth.

All in all, a very satisfying evening for in-town observing.