Thanks to all who showed up. Great fun showing new folks the ropes as well
as seeing some familiar faces.
The weather looked a bit doubtful as the sun set with clouds forming in the
southwest. By 8:30 or so most of the clouds dissipated. Seeing and
transparency fluctuated throughout the night but for the most part was
above average to very good.
Some highlights:
1. Showing new people the showpieces (Jupiter, M42, NGC457, M13, etc)
2. Finally finding M102, the "missing" Messier (thanks to some help from
Mike R)
3. M108 (edge-on galaxy) and M97 (planetary nebula) in the same field
4. Mike R showing up at 10:45, just as I was leaving
5. Hanging out til 2AM w/ Mike R and his awesome scopes :)
6. Tracking the ISS flyover both visually and with Star Walk (phone app)
I continue to be impressed with the versatility of my 8" Dobsonian - loads
into a sedan easily and has enough light grasp to pull in some pretty far
out stuff.
Also managed to do some star trail photography as well...my first effort is
attached.
Nick
fishtrap_startrails_sm.jpg
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByeXihx6yaXCMFkwUGJTUkZ4bWs/view?usp=drive_web>
