Kerry astronomy club held a public observing session at our Banna Beach location on April 28th. Instruments present were 2X10†dobs, an 8.75†dob, an 8†dob, a Skylux, an Etx 70, a pair of 25X100's, a pair of 20X80's and lots of smaller binoculars. As the skies darkened and a crowd of 30 or so arrived, cloud overhead prevented us from looking for the comets. A brief look at a young 26hr old moon started the night and Jupiter low on the horizon was the nights first telescopic target. Young and old got to see Jupiter and its moons, Unfortunately the seeing and atmosphere were muck so no cloud belts were easily visible. Fast moving cloud played a major part in observing, so as gaps appeared, Saturn, the comet, the Beehive, the Double Cluster, the Great Globular in Hercules, and M35 were swept up. In cloudier moments the club members explained to the public about the movement of the stars and planets, pointed out some constellations, talked about satellites, meteors, comets and lots of other astronomical phenomenon. Most people who attended managed to see the Galilean moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn and some DSO, such as the Double Cluster or M13. Lots of OOOHS, AAAHS and WOWS testified to the success and enjoyment the evening provided. All in all a great evening. Of particular note was comet 73P fragments, B and C. Both were very easy binocular targets that night as fragment B was in flare up and to my mind seemed a tad brighter than C.
