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| Observatory on the York River |
I
was right about the sky conditions for Saturday night. Had a terrific
evening under unusually impressive skies at York River State Park. Five
other observers braved the moderate mosquito threat to enjoy faint
fuzzies, and we had fun giving "deep" tours to the dozen or so Members
Of The Public who came by.
My favorite part of the evening: I asked a party of hikers what they would like to see and a young lady in the group answered immediately with "something awesome!". There followed a whirlwind tour of my favorite brighter objects...the Double Cluster in Perseus at low-power, globular cluster M-22 in Sagittarius, the distinct red supergiant Mu Cephei ("Herschel's Garnet Star"), doubles Nu Draconis and Albireo, planetary nebulae M-57 (the Ring) and M-27 (the Dumbbell), and finishing with the lovely trifecta of M31/32/110 (the Andromeda Galaxy and it's satellites).
Awesome enough? I got the feeling that the young lady was pretty impressed.
To sum up, a great evening, and for me a terrific way to get back into the local astronomy scene after a long dry season. I can't wait for the next event!
My favorite part of the evening: I asked a party of hikers what they would like to see and a young lady in the group answered immediately with "something awesome!". There followed a whirlwind tour of my favorite brighter objects...the Double Cluster in Perseus at low-power, globular cluster M-22 in Sagittarius, the distinct red supergiant Mu Cephei ("Herschel's Garnet Star"), doubles Nu Draconis and Albireo, planetary nebulae M-57 (the Ring) and M-27 (the Dumbbell), and finishing with the lovely trifecta of M31/32/110 (the Andromeda Galaxy and it's satellites).
Awesome enough? I got the feeling that the young lady was pretty impressed.
To sum up, a great evening, and for me a terrific way to get back into the local astronomy scene after a long dry season. I can't wait for the next event!
