Tonight was a cold night with terrible observing conditions but was still fun. It was 15 degrees out and the moon was very bright. It was 99.1% full so it was almost as bright as the moon gets. Tomorrow it will be a full moon. Tomorrow will also be a lunar eclipse as the moon will directly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth. Earth’s shadow will darken the Moon until it emerges on the other side. It should be fun to watch.

  Even with the bad conditions I was able to see three new open clusters. NGC 6759 and NGC 1342 were both very sparse clusters. I could only see about 14 stars in 1342. NGC 7160, on the other hand, was a nice little treat. There are two primary bright stars in the cluster and four secondary stars. Nine other stars complete what was visible of the cluster tonight. Three of the secondary stars form a parenthesis shape. I’d like to see this one again without the Moon and clouds getting in the way.

  Speaking of the Moon, since it was ruining my chances of seeing much else, I decided to put the Moon filter in and check it out. It’s really a beautiful sight. You could see the parts that were newer and the parts that were old where lava had covered the area. The northeast corner (as viewed through the eyepiece) had a very bright spot on it in the middle of a darker maria. I’ll have to figure out what that was. I think I’ll start paying attention to the columns in Sky and Telescope and Astronomy that talk about features on the Moon. It’s nice to see so much detail for a change.

  Hopefully it will be clear and I’ll be able to catch the eclipse tomorrow. Until then, it’s time for bed.