Got up at 5am this morning to try to spot 3I/ATLAS a 7 billion year old interstellar comet currently sight seeing through our solar system. It was only a small 10th mag fuzzy spot through the scope but it was amazing to contemplate what my eye was seeing.

I missed the Venus occultation by a mere 2 minutes today. Clouds came over and obscured the event just before it happened then cleared again just after. 😟

Just been crunching the numbers of my observing sketches since I started logging objects I’ve seen back in ‘87.
I’ve amassed 2476 sketches of 1995 different objects.
All from Bortle 6 skies.
Plenty more to see hopefully 🙂

Scope out cooling down ready for tonight’s wonders.

Bought myself a new pair of binoculars. My old 15x70’s, which I’ve had for many years, were a little worn out. They were also quite heavy handheld. These are just right but arrived showing double images. A quick trip to YouTube and now they perform flawlessly.

The slim Crescent moon with earthshine, right next to the Pleiades is one of the most beautiful sights in all of binocular astronomy.

I’m getting some spectacular visual views of Jupiter at the moment. All you astrophotographers must be getting some impressive images!

Jupiter and Venus. From earlier today in broad daylight. iPhone 15. HANDHELD. 14 inch dob.

If you want to keep your telescope/camera gear clean of dust I highly recommend getting yourself one of these devices (shown with eyepiece for scale).
These air blowers can give you a gentle blow or a full on gale.
Also ideal for blowing water off your freshly washed mirrors.

My 14 inch f4.6 Dob

My 20 inch f3.3 Dob.