by Albert Highe
I drove out to Pacheco last night for the first time. I guess I came close. I set up at the parking lot by the lake. Since no one else was set up there, I should have figured I was in the wrong place (doh!). In retrospect, I think I know where the rest of you were. In any case, it must have been fate. I met a nice gentleman, Tim from Hollister, who was out walking his dog at dusk. He came over to see what I was doing. He stayed until dark, and another hour and a half past that while I gave him a tour of various celestial objects. He had never looked through the telescope, and now he is hooked. I couldn't (nor did I want to) get him away from the eyepiece. I've never seen a first-timer study the planets and other objects for so long. He was a natural with the dob, keeping objects centered in the eyepiece with an occasional nudge. He left for a while to get some hot coffee and then came back for another half an hour.
The sky was quite dark and transparency was average. The temperature dropped quite a bit after Sunset. I was bundled up pretty good, but the chill quickly worked its way through my thin gloves. However, after a couple of hours, the temperature oddly increased and I was comfortable again. This cycle repeated itself a couple of times. I got through about half the objects on page 10 of Sky Atlas 2K before the transparency degraded badly. The fog and clouds, which had nearly circled the horizon, moved in from the West and filled up about 1/4 of the sky. Less obvious haze apparently moved even farther, obscuring the faint fuzzies I was after. Straight up and East still looked pretty good. No dew had formed yet. However, after some last looks at Saturn and Jupiter, I decided to pack it up and make the drive home early. Four hours of observing and a new convert - a good night.