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We had a really good star party last night at Alpha Ridge. We had about 25 people, and at least that many scopes. Scopes ranged from a Galileoscope (50mm aperture) to at least one 18-inch Dob. We had bargain scopes (the Galileoscope cost $15+shipping) to high-end APO
refractors and larger Schmidt-Cassegrains. The night was clear, fairly transparent for most of the night (some light ground fog after midnight), and the seeing was better than average. After about 11pm the Milky Way became visible, which confirms the transparency we experienced.

Jupiter seemed to be the most popular object on people's lists, with many of them trying to see the impact feature -- I didn't hear anyone say they actually saw it, but it may not have been on the visible face of the planet. I'm sure someone will speak up if I missed out on it.
The seeing was handling high magnifications pretty well. Other solar system objects were on the agenda, too. Neptune was seen by several people, and there was a comet that was located by Dwane Miles; he happily shared to view with anyone who happened by.

Deep sky objects were also observed. The Dumbbell Nebula, Ring Nebula, M13 (Globular Cluster), the Andromeda Galaxy, and numerous objects in the southern Milky Way were were among the sights observed.

Several people were imaging -- send me those photos for this Thursday's meeting! I hope you were all successful. I managed to get images of three objects, but I'm gonna be bad and admit right now they won't be ready for Thursday. :) Maybe I'll show some "right-out-of-the-camera" versions.

All but a couple of people (you know who you are!) had a really good time. The atmosphere was friendly and helpful, as always. I hope we have as nice a night next week at the public star party!

Oh, the Boy Scouts never showed up.

Wayne

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Photos Compliments of Peter Friedman and Ed Crawford

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Just wanted to let everyone know that Katie is fine after being stung by a bumblebee at Alpha Ridge last night. She appears not to be allergic (always good to know), and this morning, there wasn't even any evidence of swelling.

Many thanks to everyone who helped me get Katie calmed down and treated, and especially to James and Eddie for the ice and the sting kit. Guess I need to add a First Aid kit to my observing gear! :-)

See you all Thursday,
Chris Todd