To call this event a sky view is very generous. The weather did not cooperate at all. The cloud deck was broken enough to hint at clearing but was not open enough to view many celestial targets at all. There was a little blue to the east when we started, but overhead was not promising. The good thing was plenty of people showed up.
A guest astronomer views the evenings telescope calibration target.
By the time we set up and calibrated the scopes, a crowd started to gather. While we waited for it to get dark and for the clouds to clear, Tom held an impromptu general astronomy question and answer session. Several topics were discussed including the impending demise of NASA’s UARS satellite that was to occur sometime that night or the next morning. It was during this time that one of the youngest guest astronomers announced she could see a star. It had finally gotten dark enough that Vega, right on the meridian, made it’s entrance. All the scopes swung into action. Ultimately, we were able to, intermittently, view Vega, M13 and Alberio. Right before we wrapped up, Jupiter climbed out of the haze to our east and was the last target of the evening.
Even though the clouds hampered target selection, everyoune appeared to have a good time. We would like to thank everyone that took the chance and came out. We would also like to thank the very helpfull staff of Henderson Beach State Park.