Well, you all missed it. Up until the very last minute, it appeared that the moon would be a no-show, as Mt. Hamilton was in the clouds. The few die hard astronomers gathered at Foothill College Observatory bundled up against the unexpected chill temperatures, and began setting up their equipment. Amazingly, as each telescope or video camera was placed and aligned, the clouds got thicker and lower around Lick Observatory. It was too much to be a coincidence, and several people commented on the phenomena. Most noticeable was the drop in cloud level when Jim Baumgardt placed his 10" Takahashi convertible Cassegrain/Newtonian tube assembly in it's cradle and locked it in place. Finally, as the moment was rapidly approaching, it became clear that desperate measures were necessary. Jim was prevailed upon, and reluctantly, agreed. Sure enough, as he began to disassemble his telescope, the clouds rose. You can imagine the frenzy as each of us then scrambled to take apart our equipment as quickly as possible! At last, just seconds before the moon was due to rise, the last bit of optics was removed and placed in its storage case. Sure enough, the clouds lifted high above Lick, and the moon rose majestically into view. It was a truly awesome sight which I'm sure we will all remember.
Unfortunately, since all the gear was put away, there won't be any photographs or video this time to share with those of you who were less fortunate and could not make it to this spectacular event. Too bad you couldn't be there!