tried for Virgo galaxies (Union)

Saw Corvus, Gemini, Ursa Major, Regulus, etc. while waiting for Mom.

Instrument: Edmund Scientific 6-inch Newtonian
Mount: equatorial
Method: star hopping

Showed her Saturn. 26mm, 18mm, and 9mm. She really liked that. She wanted to share the view with the neighbours. Returned with Leslie.

11:33 PM, Friday 26 April 2013. Viewed Mizar A and B, Alcor, Sidus Ludoviciana...

I quickly sketched the moons...

Titan to the far left, then Rhea. Dione near the planet. The bright object at the bottom right, a mag 9.1 star.

Leslie and Mom left. I fired up the laptop. Unfortunately no wifi signal... And I felt a little lost without my SkyTools...

11:58 PM. I improved the polar alignment.

Looked at Saturn again. The view in the 9mm Tele Vue was very nice. Saw 3 moons and star.

The tracking was still funny. It did not seem to hold. I realised that I should re-read the documentation on using the clutch. I could not remember clearly what I was supposed to do. I had been fuzzy back in December too.

Or was it that the clutch was slipping? Do we need to refresh the friction pad?

Clouds were coming and going now.

The heater in the studio was very nice. Glad Mom had found the remote.

12:04 AM, Saturday 27 April 2013. I wanted to try for some galaxies, despite the bright Moon. I went to Denebola to begin the star hop. But after several tries and not seeing anything clearly, I decided to quit.

12:35 AM. Decided to throw in the towel. It was really too bright... The Moon was 97% illuminated. Frickin' Moon. And I had started to too. Maybe tomorrow, if I began earlier, in the extended gap before the Moon rise, I'd have better luck...