The short answer was yes. We saw the comet Neowise, probably for the last time. It was distinctly dimmer and its tail was much shorter than when we last observed it only a few days ago. That is to be expected. Comets are ephemeral beings. They don’t last long in the spotlight. So, we turned our attentions to the planets, still not as stable as the stars, but way more dependable than a comet. We observed Jupiter and Saturn. We had to walk down the beach to Paulette’s, because both planets were just rising and were still obscured by the tree line in front of our cabin. Of the four Galileo moons we saw three, Io, Europa and Ganymede. The forth, Callisto, was on the other side of Jupiter and was visible, but we didn’t recognize it for what it was. We also saw Saturn, whose rings were not actually broadside as I had previously reported. They were at a thirty degree angle. At first observation this gave the planet a football shape, but I was able to dial up the magnification enough to resolve a pair of dark dimples in-between the rings and the planet. At this point, we were having a lot of trouble tracking Saturn and it was late, so we decided to declare victory and go home. I did get a photo of the crescent new moon.

Here’s the cognitive test that the very stable genius-in-chief should take: Personality disorder, Womanizer, Manipulator, Camera hungry reality TV star.