By Gene Allen

Two couples responded to Bill Murray’s invitation to join him on the soccer fields to try to observe the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on August 27. When Gene and Seraphine Allen arrived with tripod-mounted binoculars, Bill’s refractor and Dave and Jen Skitt’s SCT were already set up and pointed at Venus. The sun sank below the horizon, and Venus became visible without assistance. As the twilight deepened, we sampled each other’s optics, and both Venus and Jupiter became lovely targets. We even managed an iPhone snapshot through one lens of the little binoculars. It was a simple and fun evening. Thank you, Bill, for inspiring us to try!

Seraphine Allen, Bill Murray and Jen Skitt waiting for a darker sky. Credit: Gene Allen

Venus-Jupiter using iPhone SE camera through one eyepiece
of Nikon Monarch 7 10×42 binoculars. Credit: Gene Allen