asteroid 2014 JO25

I was able to see the asteroid last night, but only briefly. I could not use my 12.5-inch with tracking platform since from that location in my yard it was behind a tree, so I used my non tracking 8-inch f/7.25, which I set up in a different corner of the yard. The light pollution & haze were so bad I could not see Coma Berenices & had to start my star hop from Cor Caroli (a magnificent place to start, so no real complaint). 

Using the S&T finders I easily picked up the field using 67x at 9:00pm, but I did not see the asteroid for about 10 minutes -- it was a little further along than I was looking and considerably fainter than I expected -- likely due to the haze. Its movement was noticeable at 113x and it seemed to dim and brighten -- but I think this was the seeing rather than brightness change. I watched it move for about five minutes before a marine layer swept over the sky.

I looked for five minutes more at Jupiter, showing wonderful detail, before it too was lost. I stayed out for a while longer, watching the broken chunks of marine layer slide overhead -- but it was soon a solid mass and there was no hope of me seeing the asteroid again.