Lassen was great!

by Peter Natscher

Friday night was my only night at Lassen, so I remained at Bumpass parking lot, along with a few other, all night. After the entire row of Obsessions had fled due to a little 'scary' overcast, the sky once again opened up for my best viewing of the fall constellation's galaxies and planetaries in the 12-14 mag. range. I used The Night Sky Observer's Guide for my entire observing program. They're great books. At 8,500 ft. elev., the clouds came and went at a moments notice. There was always a least some area to investigate DOS's in. The sky stayed dark and clear 'til 4 am. I then grabbed a couple of hours sleep in my truck until 6 am when heard a weasel outside feasting on the bits of food we had left outside the night before.

My Saturday night was spent back at the comfort of Wesson House, in Shingletown--what a nice place to stay in. It's only 1/2 hour outside the park. Next year, I will plan on a four day stay at Lassen to spend two nights out observing. I'll come in July and August. I want to meet up with all of you, again. You're all a lot of fun to be with. Definitely, one of the best things I get to do all year.

I heard the Table Mountain Star Party (central Washington state) was rained out this past weekend. We were lucky to have had such good observing considering what others get for weather.