Log, Feb 1, 2008
2 people. Frosty Drew Observatory was closed due to driving rain. Francine and Les used the downtime to hone skills with the PC, the telescope's computer and various software packages. At least that was the plan but about a hour after we got there while it was merely raining gently, the wind came up and the rain simply poured. The force of the wind drove rain through the hinges in the shutter and we have various wet spots and drips throughout the north side of the dome. At the entrance, water not only came dome from above but was being driven in under the door. We had a veritable pool with wet soggy carpet mats.I hope all of you got a chance to see the Jupiter Venus conjunction which peaked Friday with the two planets about 34 arc minutes apart. The Moon this night (as a reference) was just a bit narrower with the tip of the horns of the crescent about 29 arc minutes apart. I got up faithfully at the appointed time to be met with low lying clouds. On my way to the YMCA for my morning grunting and groaning session, I stopped for a newspaper and got a beautiful view of the two. Of course, I had left my mini-giant binoculars at home.This morning, I got a better view of the two, but the separation had extended to more than a degree as Venus began its race towards the Sun. Tomorrow morning, the Moon will catch up with these two. The planets will be about 2.5 degrees apart and the Moon will be about 5 degrees below them. Worth a peak but the Moon may be all but invisible because its illuminated surface will be less than 9%.-Les Coleman
