The sky last night was beautifully clear.
So I decided to roll back the observatory roof and give Tal2 a bit of an airing.
Firstly Arcturus was spotted, the diffraction spikes around the star made for a mesmerising sight. I took a good long look at this most wonderful of stars.
My thoughts were so far away that I completely forgot about my initial target ..Mars!
Mars noticeably now has a slight case of the "shrinks", at least it does through the 9mm Orthoscopic eyepiece.
Surface detail was very low tonight on Barsoom.
It won't be long before my National Geographic Mars map is replaced with my Moon Map.
After a few more minutes of telescope observing I decided to close up the observatory, sit on the garden bench and take in the night sky without the help of visual aids.
All was quiet in the village, the streetlights had gone off, and the evening was mine to take in the starry night.
