Our first visit to the Seaside School to support their “Night Under the Stars” was a moderate success. Security and safety lights were a constant annoyance but, to start with, the skies were clear. Without any bright planets visible and with the Moon already set, we had to concentrate on deep sky objects.
Club members Dave Halupowski, Dennis Hausch and Tom Haugh were able to support the event. To start off, Tom’s 8″ Meade concentrated on the multiple star system Epsilon Lyrae and Dave’s small Dobsonian displayed the colorful duo of Alberio. But the ‘star’ of the show was Dennis’ 12″ Dob. Even with the bright ambient lighting, the scope was able to show a nice bright Ring Nebula.
However, is wasn’t long before some high thin clouds started to appear and ultimately thickened enough to shut us down.
All our guest observers were able to view the few celestial objects that the conditions allowed, and we received many favorable comments and interest in the club. We hope our next visit to Seaside School will be cloud free allowing a longer list of observed targets.