After a spell off work with a back problem I have during the last week had a few chances to sit outside in clear skies. I can't risk toting the Skywatcher out yet but have used the Spotting scope and Monocular to get some observing done.

A few sightings of the ISS show it to be very bright compared to previous sightings.

Albireo always delights me and at the moment Jupiter is an easy target to the South, the Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) have been doing their merry dance around the gas giant during the past week.

My very first serious observing was recording their progress over time when I was just 14 years old, 32 years on and I still get a thrill to see how much their positions change from night to night.

The global financial situation over recent weeks has culminated today with the UK Government announcing a bail out plan for the main UK banks and the world's central banks announcing a co-ordinated interest cut.

All quite gloomy so it has been a relief to revisit old friends like Jupiter which are still there from more innocent (for me) times!

later
Mitch