by Phil Chambers
I'll second that. It was a great week. I got back about 12:30 am this morning after a sidetrip.
The nebs never looked so good. The planetary tour was nice also. While I claim Pluto because it was in almost a starless field, I have no way to verify it unless I see it again. But, down here, I doubt if I will.
BTW, did anyone else note that The Sky doesnt locate the planets correctly or is this a "feature" of the mac version. Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto were all in different places than "the sky" showed them. Close, but no cigar.
There was a boy who desperately wanted to see Mars at the Public event but it was late and Mars was behind trees and such for most of the observers. Since I had set up on the wrong side (following tac orders that non-imagers that want to leave early set up over there) I had a clear view. I made him look at Neptune first, which elicited a "Wow" from him and then showed mars. I told him of the dust storm and that the only parts you could make out were the perimeter and some whitening where the caps should be.
I actually had quite a bit of business over there. The folks coming in before it got really dark could see me first and would wander over. Neptune and Uranus were hits and M27 looked pretty good. The double double is a favorite. I have them look unaided and see one star, then put in a low power ep and show them two stars and then crank it up and show them 4 stars. Impressive sight. (that was 1x, 55x, and 175x on Sat) Hoping they wont notice the elongation at 55x.
I got a recruit for the Nexstar listserv, too.
Just before leaving, I started the pickup for the guys who flooded it and didnt know what to do (and didnt know that it was flooded). Ah, yes, I am not sorry to see carburators go bye-bye. I have field rejetted too many at 6 to 11,000 feet. Used to carry all kinds for the other jeeps and my own. What a pain.....
It was a great week, great friends, great skys.....