From Mercury to Pluto: Observing from Florida

by Jane Houston Jones

Family holidays away from home and without a telescope can still be astronomically enjoyable. We observed -0.6 Mercury about 10 degrees above the horizon while on a warm and sunny sunset cruise on Sarasota Bay two days ago.

And yesterday we had dinner with Pluto at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in Orlando. When he stopped by our dinner table, I told him he was my favorite dog and my favorite planet, and he gave me a hug and a slurp. It was raining cats and dogs (Tiggers and Goofys) so had we had to wear our yellow $6.00 Mickey Mouse Ponchos to keep dry, but got to ride Space Mountain twice, with no wait. :-)

Back to the sky - the moon, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter made a pretty show, depending what time of morning or evening we happened to be looking up!

Back here on our own planet, Earth, I'm lucky to have such great astro friends to share the sky with.

Now on to NY, NY and Amherst MA, our destinations for the next week. I understand the weather will be a tad different than Florida. :-)