Our annual trek north to the Spanish Trail Scout Reservation to support their Cub Scout Tiger Growl was a success. We always have great support from the camp and the dark skies generate good support from the club. The members that were able to support the event this year where:
- James Dubben
- Walter Dunn
- Chris Foley
- Dave Halupowski
- Tom Haugh
- John Walker
So, whether or not we have a good event, boils down to the weather, and the weather this year started out very good with cool clear skies. Clear enough that we kicked off observations with Venus and a 4 day old crescent Moon in broad daylight and Orion’s Trapezium before the Sun was fully set.
As we continued observing, and unnoticed by most, some clouds started to move in. They built up but then quickly dissipated. The only thing they really did was obscure a Hubble Space Telescope pass. We picked right back up with some of the evenings other targets:
- Uranus
- M 42
- M 41
- Sirius
- Alcor & Mizar
In addition to the telescopic sights there were extensive sessions on constellation recognition and lore.
The event saw 70+ scouts and associated family members. The Tigers eventually all headed back to their camp sites and we packed up after a fun evening. Once again, we thank the scout leaders for the invitation for us to share our love of Astronomy and to use their dark skies.