Although it was clear when the go/no go weather decision was made and it was mostly clear when we started setting up at Eden Gardens State Park it did not stay that way long. It did stay clear enough long enough for a couple of scopes to find Jupiter in full daylight. Several of the early guest observers where treated to the view although the sky was too bright to see any of the Galilean moons.
The clouds continued to gather and ultimately filled in obscuring Jupiter. But the clouds did little to deter the enthusiasm of the gathering crowd. The park ranger said she lost count of the guests at 180.
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Club members Frank Atchison, Dean Covey, Tom Haugh, Dennis Hausch and Chuck Lynch all brought scopes and were joined by new club member Carol King. Two of our guests also brought telescopes. Each telescope had an eager group of people asking questions and examining the equipment. The question and answer period continued for quite a while until someone noticed the clouds had broken and Jupiter was once again in view.
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At that time all the scopes were brought to bear on the planet and by now the skies were dark enough for all 4 of Jupiter’s large moons to be visible. Now each scope had a line of observers and the guest scopes had a club member helping find and view the largest planet. Although the skies never cleared enough to view any other targets Jupiter satisfied all our requirements for a great sky view. We must thank the staff of Eden Gardens State Park for the invite and we look forward to our next visit in October. We also thank Marietta Hausch for her photography.