After miserable weather in March, April, and May we struck gold for both June Star Parties.
In spite of unanimous predictions of 50% cloud cover, there was hardly a cloud in the sky all
night. Turn out was great and no one was disappointed. The thinnest of crescent moons
was an excellent sight at sunset. Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter also put on great shows.

M13, M51, and M82 were viewed both directly and via photographing their StellaCam images
off the club's new 20" LCD monitor. (See images below.)

The highlight of the evening was a -8 Mag flare during a pass of the ISS with Shuttle attached.
See excellent photo below.

A photographer from Howard County Times / Columbia Flier was in attendence. The photo
that appeared in the June 28th issues is immediately below.

If you don't already have it on your calendar, mark July 7th as the next HAL Star Party
featuring a Jupiter transit.

12" LX-200 Gets Connected to HAL Video System

New 15" Home-made Dob Gets Ready for a Trial Run

Todd Counts Down to Sunset

Ben Awaits the Messier Search

HALs New 20" Monitor About to Get its First Work Out

HoCo Times Photog Arrives with Date. Yes, He Brought His Flash!

Oohs and Aahs Were Abundant During the 11:18PM ISS+Shuttle Pass (-8 Mag Peak!)

M13 Photo off 20" Monitor Using Club's StellaCam

M51 Photo off 20" Monitor Using Club's StellaCam

M82 Photo off 20" Monitor Using Club's StellaCam