Plum Beach Club: August 2022
by Jim Hendrickson
For the second consecutive year, we were invited to participate in a night sky event to coincide with the Perseid meteor shower at the Plum Beach Club in Saunderstown. The event was originally scheduled for Thursday, August 11, which, due to clouds, was delayed to Sunday, the 14th, and postponed a second time to Monday, the 15th, for what appeared to be a more favorable forecast.
Francine Jackson and Jim Hendrickson arrived and set up right before sunset. The weather was mild but not humid, with little to no wind, and the fresh smell of the seashore permeated the air. Clouds covered about 30% of the sky.
Francine gave a presentation including topics ranging from constellations and planets visible tonight, the Moon phase, meteor showers, and current happenings in space and astronomy including Event Horizon Telescope, Webb Telescope, and the upcoming Artemis 1 launch.
As the sky darkened, partly cloudy conditions gave way to mostly clear. A few fireflies flickered away in the brush to the southwest of our observing site. Saturn rose over the horizon just to the right of the Newport Bridge and was the primary target for the evening. Francine’s 4-inch and Jim’s 3-inch refractors provided steady views of the ringed planet, despite it being quite low. Later on, as the sky became dark, the Milky Way became visible, and we moved to M11 in Scutum, Alberio in Cygnus, and the Coathanger asterism in Vulpecula.
In total, about 35 guests came to enjoy a pleasant evening under the stars at Plum Beach. There were many good discussions about telescopes, the Milky Way, and meteor showers. A couple of guests even mentioned seeing a dim meteor, though we’re not sure if it was a Perseid.
We concluded the night with discussions of the possibility of returning for a night in December to coincide with the Geminids.
