Last night I observed Saturn from my backyard in Sydney.
The moon was big and bright in the sky. In addition, I only had 30 minutes or so, so my eyes didn't really have time to adjust, especially with some lighting nearby.
However, I enjoyed the view of Saturn, but it wasn't as good as a week ago when I had more time and a darker environment.
My question is: When observing bright objects (eg Saturn), is the effect of ambient light and un-adjusted eyes decreased? That is, can one enjoy observing bright objects during a full moon and with lights on nearby?
So long as the moon isn't full and very near to the planet it really should have very little impact on your view. Far less in any case than the effects of atmospheric "seeing" (turbulence) which is the No. 1 factor in how good a view you'll get of planets. This can vary drammatically over a single night and between nights.
I quite often observe planets during bright moons (provided they are there, of course).
What killed last night's session was dew. After pack-up I looked at the hygrometer and it read 88%. What's worse is that atmospheric crud meant that it left deposits on the corrector when it dried off inside.
Think I read on Cloudy Nights some time ago that a number of experienced observers don't see the moon as much of an impediment to planetary viewing.
Sometimes detail on Jupiter is quite pronounced during daylight, I was able to see quite alot of detail on Jupiter when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter in 1994.
I have just come in after observing Saturn and the Moon and except for some whispy clouds was not affected at all.
