Saturday, October 24
Weather: Clear, 35°
Participants: Bob Horton, Mike Kerr, Michael Corvese, John Kocur, Jim Hendrickson
Attendees: 20
Observed: Waxing gibbous Moon, Saturn, Double Double, Mirfak, Melotte 20, Sadr, Polaris, Vega, Altair, NGC 457, and Gamma Andromedae, T Lyrae
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD8EMd
Report by: Jim Hendrickson
Clear skies prevailed on Saturday, October 24 for our fourth consecutive Saturday open night. The 98% waxing gibbous Moon hovered just a few degrees from Saturn, and these were the primary featured objects of the evening.
Bob Horton and Mike Kerr opened the 8-inch refractor, which concentrated on the Moon and Saturn.
Steve and Emily Hubbard brought a small group of scouts (his grandson’s group) into the meeting hall for an astronomy presentation, then to show them the telescopes in the roll-offs, and finally upstairs for viewing through the 8-inch refractor.
John Kocur had his 80mm refractor set up in the courtyard and stayed focused on the Moon, while helping some visitors capture images of it with their phone.
I operated a Seestar S50 throughout the night, and despite the bright Moonlight, was able to capture acceptable images of Caldwell 57 (NGC 6822), Barnard’s Galaxy in Sagittarius, Caldwell 27 (NGC 6888), the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, and Vega.
One of our newer members, Steve Overman, also spent the evening with us.
Seeing conditions improved later in the evening, and the 8-inch refractor provided satisfying higher magnification views of Saturn, its rings and moons, as noted by Bob’s excitement at seeing the thin shadow between the rings and the planet.
Despite washing out much of the sky, the late-season full Moon cast a pleasant glow across the observatory grounds, like an ashen version of daylight from the past season.
Bob Napier arrived about a minute or two after just about everyone had left, and stayed for a few minutes, wondering where everyone was. John and I stayed for a while longer, getting a look at the Double Double and T Lyrae, before closing at about 10:20pm. About 12 visitors came for views tonight.
