This morning's planets

Let's hear it for Venus! (not to mention Mars and Staurn ;-) I've been following Venus carefully this year since February, but for some reason it seems much brighter in our morning sky - what a beacon! Yet the cold...

A symbiotic southern exposure, new gigs, and some sidewalk astronomy

I've spent a little time lately exploring nearby sites that would give me the good southern exposure I lack at Driftway Observatory. Yesterday I found one that's near perfect, ended up doing a little sidewalk astronomy in the process, and...

Finding Mercury the easiest way

I do like the little Celestron NexStar 5. It led me quickly to Mercury this evening well before it was detectable to the naked eye and when there were no stars visible to do a normal two-star alignment. I...

Mercury -speedy - but easy to see if . . .

The next couple of weeks are our best opportunity to see the fleeting planet, Mercury, low in the western sky right after Sunset. This last week in May might be the best time to see it. While I hope folks...

When bad is good - a productive cloudy night of observing

Clouds! Throughout my observing life I’ve written off cloudy nights as next to useless for the observer. I guess this is due in part to my lack of serious interest in observing planets, because last night was certainly cloudy here,...