Tonight’s star party was a pretty night, cut short when clouds built in around 8pm.  When I got home it was 22 degrees at my house, and I think we were all tiring of the cold breeze blowing in our faces.

Four members were on the field for RAC, and two families joined us to observe.  At the beginning of the evening Venus and Mercury were both visible about 3 degrees apart in the west,  The phase of Mercury appeared about half to me, Venus gibbous.  As they sank into the west it was fun to see Mercury begin the twinkle.  Then as it approached tree branches I watched it race from branch to branch, bringing home how fast the Earth turns.

Of course, Comet Lovejoy was a big hit tonight.  It is high, just a couple of degrees off the Pleiades now, and barely visible to the naked eye.  In a telescopic view the coma appeared to have a bit of an elongated oval shape, but I saw nothing I could call a tail.

We looked at the brighter Messier objects while waiting for Jupiter to get above the treetops.  All four Galilean moons were visible tonight, the inner three close to the planet and a pan of the field of view showed Callisto.
Thanks to everybody who came out in the cold.
—  Glenn Jan 17