The Gwdihw serenades the Gibbous Moon...

Early yesterday evening the clouds filled the skies, I thought there was to be no observing .....  thankfully I was wrong.

At around 10.00pm the clouds parted, and the gibbous Moon and Jupiter could be seen softly shining through a thin veil of mist. 

Due to the brightness of the Moon, I could only make out a handful of stars.

To the South, Sirius was peeping through the trees, Procyon was shining happily above the tree line, whilst Orion was snagged almost waist height in the tops of the trees at the end of the garden.

To the North, I could make out the shape of the Plough and also Polaris.

Kochab and Pherkad "the Guardians of the Pole" were also prominent.  

Apart from spotting Aldebaran and Capella; not much else of the starry night could be seen.. my targets for the evening where.... Jupiter and the Moon....

The 13 day waxing Moon was bright enough for my observations to be noted without the need of torch or candle....

After taking several shots of the Moon with the Tal1, and digicam, I moved onto trying a sketch of Jupiter...

Unfortunately Jupiter wasn't in a cooperative mood.  

Very little detail of the planet's belts were seen through the eyepiece...

But to make up for the lack of planetary detail... I was rewarded with a lovely arrangement of the Galilean moons.....

I was in and out of the observatory for about half an hour. In that time the mist cleared enough to reveal a clearer Moon, but no extra stars were seen... 

In the distance on the village boundary, I could hear an owl calling to the night....  serenading to the bright Moon no doubt... I was glad to once again hear the song of the Gwdihw*

It's officially Full Moon on Sunday morning around 5.00am.....

No doubt, like many others Luna-tics, I'll be awake early Sunday morning staring out of the bedroom window looking at lovely Selene.. 

Clear Lunar Skies 

Mark......

*The Welsh word for owl is Tylluan... but there is an alternative Welsh word....  Gwdihw... pronounced "Goody Who".