[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

To follow on from my earlier post: I took another look at 11.25am in bright sunshine - not a cloud in the sky.
Both Jupiter and Mars appeared fainter. Mars was quite difficult to see initially, even though I knew where to look. Once I found Mars it was easy enough to keep it in view. Mars was still a faint pink and Jupiter a washed out white. The bands on Jupiter we're only just visible, so perhaps the hot, higher Sun is now causing a lot more turbulence that is not obvious at 33X.
Mars was now positioned at 2.00 on a clock face with Jupiter at the centre. I could not see any change in angular separation from my earlier observation at 9.30. I would have needed a micrometer equiped eyepiece to see the small change. I think the two will now slowly separate.

I visited Mercury whilst waiting. Best view was at 62x. Mercury was a small, moderately bright shimmering irregularly shaped disk, reflecting it's current phase. I tried for Saturn, but to no avail - it was washed out by the Sun's glare despite some extra long shielding to keep stray light out.
I then visited Rigel Kent - bright white with a hint of blue. Best view was at 62x. Whilst a lot of turbulence, the pair were easily split in regular moments of better seeing. I had planned to visit Acrux next but I had left it too late as it was now just below my roof line. I had set the scope up close to the house to get some shielding from some occasional gusts of wind.
I visited Antares to finish up. I was a beautiful yellow-orange speck against the blue sky.