Portsmouth Middle School star party
by Dave Huestis
Most of the star parties Skyscrapers provide for school and civic groups are often planned several weeks to many months in advance. But like clockwork it seems Mother Nature is conspiring against us when it comes to weather conditions. So was the scenario for the star party scheduled for November 16 at the Portsmouth Middle School. The clouds up in Pascoag were in and out all day. The evening forecast called for clearing, but not until 9 pm or so. The start time for this event was at 7:30 pm.
Bob Forgiel checked his chicken bones and rune stones (along with a few online weather sites) and decided to go for it. I picked up Alex around 5 pm for the long drive to Portsmouth. It was even longer than usual due to a lot of traffic on Route 10 inbound to Route 95, and then through Barrington, Warren and Bristol, and then over the Mount Hope Bridge. The sky remained moistly cloudy for a good portion of the journey.
We arrived around 6:50 pm. Bob was already setting up. We selected our usual observing site on a little hillock with a good view of the western horizon over the bay. The sky was clearing and we watched as a waxing crescent Moon set, the lunar cusps disappearing below the horizon. Jupiter became visible through breaks in the cloud cover to the east.
Guests started to arrive around 7:30 pm. 75% of the sky was now clear. I focused my RV-6 on Jupiter almost the entire evening, only moving over to the Pleiades and looking at the double cluster as the last of the visitors left for the warmth of the school and their cars.
Alex had set up his own scope about 15 feet away from mine. He provided views of Jupiter, the Pleiades, Albireo and the Andromeda Galaxy. Jim Crawford had set up his telescope a short distance away form Alex. Jupiter and the Pleiades were also viewed through his instrument. Jim also helped guests to find and identify the Summer Triangle, Polaris and Cassiopeia. He also instructed them how to use a planisphere and where to purchase one.
It was a fairly chilly evening, with a light wind. Folks didn’t hang around as long as they usually do. We were breaking down our telescopes for the ride home at around 8:35 pm or so. And by this time the sky was completely cloud-free! Fortunately the ride home was
traffic-free as well. Alex and I rewarded ourselves with a late evening of Thai appetizers in Swansea! Then it was just another 45 minutes to Alex’s house and then home. Another successful star party had concluded.
Dave Huestis
