Log, May 24, 2002
18 people signed our logbook, but I think we missed a few. On our highly precise totally subjective scale of seeing, we'd have been hard pressed to reach a two on Friday night. We had a uniform layer of [cirrus?] clouds brightly illuminated by a Moon high overhead. The day had been warm and the air was turbulent while it cooled. Objects directly overhead were reasonably stable but those near the horizon were dreadful. At 8:10 just after the sun set, Jupiter showed two faint wriggling bands that looked like something seen through a rain washed window. It only got worse as Jupiter set. The upper part of Jupiter was a lovely shade of red and the lower edge a fine blue - unfortunately all a result of the Earth's atmosphere.The Moon was much better. Although it was surrounded by a hazy halo, the craters, rills and terminator were clearly defined. Tycho was quite brilliant with the long rays a bright white. Most of the night we observed the Moon through a filter because it was bright enough to project on the dome's roof, much to the delight of several people.We looked at Zubenelgenubi (Alpha Libra). It you haven't seen it, it is a fine wide double star. -Les Coleman
