The skies were somewhat clear as we started setting up for the Mt. Zion solar gaze but they quickly went downhill from there.
Dennis & Marietta Hausch and Tom Haugh were able to support the event as part of Crestview library’s summer reading program “A Universe of Stories”. Dennis set up his Hydrogen-Alpha scope and Tom brought his properly filtered library scope as well as his spectroscope.
By the time most of the students were assembled, the skies were very cloudy. There were a couple of blue holes but they refused to line up with the Sun. The students were taken inside the meeting hall for alternate activities.
Tom was invited to give a quick talk to the children. He passed out sky charts to each child and instructor. He then told everyone how to use the chart and to identify what they could see in the sky using the symbols on the chart. By the end of his impromptu talk there were bright shadows visible outside so everyone quickly went back outside and were finally able to view the Sun. Ultimately, 22 students and leaders were able to see the Sun through each of our instruments.
We would like to thank the Crestview library and the Mt. Zion church for the warm welcome and the chance to share our passion for Astronomy.