by James Turley
Coe was mostly clear, but very cold all night. Jeezzz, what happened to Summer? Where's Orion?
A lot of scopes, huddled together on the East Ridge, vehicles forming wind blocks. Phil T, Denny W, Brian B, Kevin S, Paul M, and some PAS guys. Marine layer threatening all evening, but not reaching us. Low around 50 degrees. RH reached 90%. Hair dryers blowing all night. Fried fuses, dead batteries. Wet maps. Wind started to die down around midnight. I guess a steady 3-7mph all night. Annoying. Calming to 2 mph after midnight.
But..all that notwithstanding, a seriously flashy Milky Way (as Jamie would say). The Great Rift jet Black. Cygus was just Grand. Great transparency at zenith. North American. Non filtered Veil. Sag and Sco great all evening. Kevin liked the False Comet.
And...almost forgot. Easily found the one true comet. Right where it's supposed to be on the Great Square just above the trees. Looked like a huge diffuse Glob. Filled the whole FOV in my 31T5. Only a fuzzy head, no tails. Wow!
So cold. What is Lassen going to be like? How much are lift tickets?
Left around 1am, as La Luna threatened to rise.