WoW! Saturday night at the peak was incredible! Rod Norton gave a talk at the observatory. There was a great public turnout. The 30" is still out of commission, but several people were set up to share photons. Unfortunately, by the time the crowds let out there were quite a few clouds, so the public only got some great looks at the moon and a nice glimpse of M13.

One man said that just as he was looking at the moon, a plane flew through the field of view. The plane went by rather quickly, but he was impressed by the effect of the heat. He said it looked like a pond had been superimposed on the moon, someone threw a rock in the pond and the ripples made the moon appear to "blow up." I thought it was a vivid description.

Attendees were Mark W. with his 14.5", Marsha with her 10", Jay and his 5" Meade, Alan had a refractor, Ray had his 18", I'm not sure what Robert was using, I won't try to spell Peter's great scope, and Rich was kind enough to lend me his 5" AP.

The evening did start with high clouds, but by the time the public left the sky was clearing beautifully. I had such a great night. Funny how some nights go wonderfully, and others are, let's say not very productive. The last time I was observing, I spent three nights at PSWLAP with perfect skies. I spent the whole time looking at Virgo / Coma Berenices and walked away without a single find. Last night, I logged 26 Messiers! I had intended on working in Virgo / Coma again, but the moon was nearby. Just after the moon set, there were some clouds in my way, and then the constellations had set.

The most beautiful object I found was M8. I drew all the stars and beautiful nebulosity. It wasn't until afterwards when I checked it off in the book that I realized M8 is the Lagoon. I looked back at my picture, and sure enough, it looked exactly like the lagoon! I also drew beautiful pictures of M92, M5, M80, M4, M107, M10, M12, M9, M14, M56, M39, M71, M19, M62, M28, M70, M54, M69, M55, M22, M20, M21, M23, M24, M35, and M21. I used a 26 mm for location, and drew most of the pictures with a 21 mm Plossl and 2x Barlow.

I was also impressed with Antares split by Ray and Rich. I like that little green pea!

The temperature was comfortable. Although I had my usual two layers of long johns, ski pants, sweater, scarf and boots, I did not use my winter coat, mad bomber hat or gloves. There was barely any dew and no wind! It was nice to keep my beloved atlas out without worry. I am thankful that the skies were so beautiful, and I had an incredible night. The company and skies were so great, I stayed up until almost 4 a.m.!