by Dan Wright
Excited little kids and interested parents crowded around both my scopes. It was too bad we had so little to show. But I told them it would get better later.
Clouds had thinned by 8:30 PM, and I presented public views of the doubles Alberio, Eta Cas, and Gamma And. Then sucker holes developed. With the relatively dark skies of Morgan Hill and the moon still partially eclipsed, I offered good views of M31, the Double Cluster, the Ring, the Dumbbell, and even M76.
During the whole night, thankful parents introduced themselves earnestly and shook hands, and grateful teachers and PTA staff heaped praise on us and pressed cookies and hot cocoa into our hands. Little boys and girls "helped" set up, change eyepieces, and re-center the moon in view, and asked constant streams of innocent questions -- that's the rewarding aspect of school parties.
By 9:30 we lost the majority of our crowd (it was a school night after all). The ones who stayed were rewarded. Clouds cleared, and the moon looked magnificent as the first sliver of sunlight appeared and grew. Just exactly like Phil Terzian succeeded in capturing (great shot, Phil!)
We gradually lost our dark-sky stuff, and soon the sky was washed out and we were casting shadows -- back to a typical full moon night. We packed up in a hurry to the threat of lawn sprinklers.
Praise goes to JVN and his school star party system, that keeps running smoothly year after year.
Posted on sf-bay-tac Oct 28, 2004 10:29:17 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 16, 2005 08:15:28 PT