Halloween

by Matthew Buynoski

The moon was the one object "on display" for the trick-or-treaters, and I used the Vixen BT-80 with a 32mm ep in one side (28X), and an 8mm in the other (112X). This allowed the viewers to see both the whole moon and a moderately magnified view of part of it. Detail was kind of washed out with the full-moon flat illumination, but toward the edges of our satellite (craters somewhat in profile) the views were still pretty intriguing. Plato got a lot of notice, I suppose because of its geometrical "regularity."

Most of those who looked spent more time on the "whole moon" side than the magnified side. That struck me as a little bit odd, but that's how it worked out. No matter...either view elicited a lot of excitement. Many commented that it was the best treat of the night, and (as in past years) they often were so taken up by the moon that they didn't remember to take some of the more traditional "loot" from the bowl nearby.

Conditions couldn't have been better. Seeing was very good, the temperatures were warm and pleasant. Not a trace of a cloud around, though you could see your breath after 7PM, so there must have been a reasonable amount of moisture in the air close to the ground. Dew did not occur before no more groups were out and I shut down (around 8:30).

We didn't have a whole lot of trick-or-treaters, alas. Perhaps 10 groups came by, with an average size of 4 people in each.