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Birdsong and the Moon

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Tonight a blackbird was perched on Gilbert's roof, singing a song for the Moon. A perfect evening to train the Jason refractor onto the waxing crescent. The nearby blackbird gently sang and the troubles of the world melted away.    

Sketching Sol and Jove.

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 Last night's Jupiter sketch. I didn't stay outside long last night as it was windy and cold.  There were also clouds looming on the western horizon, which is a sure sign of soon-to-be bad weather.  Within the hour it was raining and blowing.  Considering the amount of cloud cover this March, I have been lucky to capture several Jupiter drawings. ------------------------------------------  I've also managed a fair few solar sketches.  Here's a sample of my March solar sketches:

Luna and Sol dance across the sky.

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60mm'f15 Jason refractor - afocal 40mm Kellner eyepiece  This evening's lunar photo, taken with the Jason refractor. Earlier in the day I managed to make a sketch of Sol.   I brilliant day for astronomy...... later in the evening a thin hazy sea mist crept over the village, blocking out much detail on the planet Jupiter.  So... no planetary sketching tonight. But it was still an amazing evening for all West Wales astronomers..

Tonight's Jupiter sketch

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The Great Red Spot could be seen, it exhibited to my eye, an orange/red hue.  Overall the image was "mushy" at x225. A beautiful day with lots of bird song, and blue skies, Spring is finally springing.     Earlier in the evening  managed two images, one of the Jason refractor eyeing up the Moon. The other was an afocal image of Luna taken with the 40mm Kellner and Jason. Clear Spring skies

Thank You clear sky.

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The Schmidt C8 behaved last night and returned some lovely views of the gas giant.  The evening was cold, with not a hint of a breeze to disturb the viewing. I managed to grab myself the above sketch of Jupiter.  Earlier in the evening the crescent Moon had been busy looking gorgeous over in the west. The viewfinder of the Jason refractor revealed the crescent. I then captured an image of the crescent Moon afocally through the Jason refractor. It was a great evening for observing, probably the clearest evening we have had since last October! Fingers crossed for more. Clear Skies Mark