Threatening weather did little to thwart the August Henderson Beach State Park sky view. We had to delay setting up the solar telescopes for a short time due to a light mist, but once it stopped we pressed on. To the West was a large thunderhead that, although threatening, never came toward the park and eventually dissipated.
Solar observing started with Dean Covey, Dennis Hausch and Tom Haugh. The weather kept all but a couple of solar observers from stopping by. As the Sun set the day shift was joined by Frank Atchison, Robert Sutphen, Dave Halupowski, Chuck Lynch and Ken Leone all bringing optical equipment to bear. Sky charts were handed out and instruction on how to use them was provided to the growing crowd. Jupiter started the night time show as it was viewed setting right after the Sun. Saturn, as usual, was the ‘star’ of the evening, although there were plenty of other bright objects in view. The great Hercules cluster, the Ring Nebula (M 57) and the famous multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae to name just a few.
The weather kept the count of guest observers lower than normal; we estimated about 70. Just before we started to disassemble the equipment a couple of the park rangers stopped by in order to take a look for themselves. We took the opportunity to thank them, once again, for hosting our events.