by David Staples
| Observer | Dave Staples |
|---|---|
| Date | 09 Jan 02 |
| Time | 2030-2230 PDT |
| Location | Santa Rosa, 38°44'N 122°W Elev. ~110 |
| Weather | Clear, cold, dewy, no wind |
| Equip | C8, 26mm, 10mm plossls, 2x barlow |
| Seeing | 6/10 |
| Trans. | 8/10, until the fog rolled in |
It's not just kids that get excited. After setting the scope up before dinner to cool I made it outside at about 8:30. On the way out I invited my neighbor over to take a look at the planets. He had wanted to get a look at Jupiter, and last night was the first night we were both out about the same time.
Excitement is an understatement here. He had never seen any of the planets through a scope (or naked eye for that matter until I pointed them out) and was thoroughly impressed with Jupiter muttering an awed "whoa" at first sight. He then asked about that curious line of stars to one side and I told him about the Galilean satellites, he was even more impressed after that. It was to bad he missed Io and Europa passing each other by, earlier in the evening. That was quite a show, it gave a great idea of how fast the moons are moving.
Next I showed him Saturn and when he saw it, he gave me a high five and said it was the most incredible thing he had ever seen. He even pointed out Titan, though I had look that up to be sure that was what we were seeing. Showed him M42 as well, and after he stepped back he said "this thing really is a time machine isn't it", amazed at how long the light takes to get here, kind of funny because that is how I like to look at it as well.
Anyhoo, after he left I contented myself with splitting various doubles. Wish I hadn't forgotten about Rigel. It didn't take long for dew and fog to bring an end to my observing session. While nothing new was spotted (not unusual for my backyard) it was a great night with excitement renewed.