PLANETARY LINEUP in the MORNING

Location:  Little Lepreau, NB, Canada

Date Time:  February 25, 2018 0430-0630 hrs

Weather:  Slight breeze, mostly clear with high hazy clouds fouling seeing conditions, -6C with windchill increasing with the dawn.

Attendance:  David McCashion

Equipment:  8" Meade LX 200 with 32mm and 19mm eyepieces.  Canon Rebel Xsi with 18-55mm lens on tripod.  Images processed on Photobucket.com

Objective:  To view and image the planetary lineup of (from the East) Saturn, Mars and Jupiter.

Report:

• Very nice line up of Planets in the morning, across the southern sky.

• Jupiter was huge and bright at 0430 hrs and the skies were very clear.  Four of its Moons were on one side of the gas giant, evenly spaced out.  Its storm bands were easy to see in the 19mm eyepiece.  

• Shortly after 0500 hrs a high hazy cloud covered the sky, fouling the seeing conditions.  They were see-through, though.
• Mars was low, in the south, behind a big tree.  Its disk is almost big enough to see detail across its face, in better viewing conditions.  Also, it was behind the big tree, out front, and was difficult to view.  With approaching Opposition on July 27, 2018, the Martian disk will make a great target for observing and imaging.  When we get this close, every two years, the disk is big enough to see detail across its face, in backyard telescopes.  Also, this year, its disk will appear much larger to us than in 2016.
• Saturn was very low, in hazy skies, behind trees when I tried to observe it with 19 mm eyepiece.  Could easily make out its rings, which were very much tilted.  
• This was my first time observing these three planets in 2018!
• No satellites or shooting stars were seen.  First light was at 0613 hrs.

ROCKET LAUNCH!

Location:  Kissimmee, FL

Date Time:  Feb 6, 2018 @ 1545hrs EST

Weather:  Mostly to partly clear, humid and a little hazy on horizon, sunny, no wind, 27C.

Equipment:  Canon Rebel Xsi with 18-55 and 75-300mm lenses, on tripod and without tripod.

Attendance:  Madison, McKenzie, Carla, Becky and Myself.

Objective:  To image and view SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch, which was scheduled launch on this day at 1330hrs from the Kennedy Space Station on Cape Canaveral, FL.

Report:

• We traveled from our Resort in Kissimme to watch the launch from Cocoa Beach, FL for the 1330hrs scheduled launch.  Many hundreds of people were parked on the side of Hwy 528 leading into Cocoa Beach because it offered an excellent view of the launchpad.  Unfortunately for us, the launch was delayed at the last minute and rescheduled for a 1545hrs launch.  Due to circumstances, we couldn't wait in Cocoa Beach and needed to head back to Kissimmee.
• We arrived back at our Kissimmee Resort at approx 1500hrs.
• At 1540hrs, I started watching the televised launch on NASA TV on our TV.  At 1545hrs the rocket launched on schedule.  I ran outside, with my camera and tripod, and there were many people in the yard looking for the rocket.  I seen it right away, in the North East direction, low heading up, like a candle flame that was rising.  It was only visible for about a minute, before it disappeared from view in some hazy clouds, looking like it was heading off to the East.  This created quite a buzz around the resort.  People were very excited about this launch.

Images: