The clouds moved in this weekend, but I was able to give my
astronomy binocular a workout on Friday evening, just before the sky became overcast. I am happy to report that Comet 17P/Holmes is alive and well and seems to have added some girth since I saw it last week. I even had some of my fellow apartment residents express an interest in what I was doing.
That reminds me of a problem unique to binocular astronomers. It's something that rarely happens to astronomers with
telescopes, at any rate. You see, more than once, as I've observed under the stars with my
binoculars, I have been questioned by authorities as a possible "peeping Tom" suspect. Apparently, peeping Toms don't use telescopes, just binoculars. My recommendation to all my fellow binocular astronomers is to always have a star chart at your side as evidence of what you are doing.