When I opened the gate we saw some clouds which got thicker as the sun set…even hiding Mercury. But all the clouds seemed to evaporate allowing us to view all 4 visible planets. Saturn’s rings were visible as were several moons.

Then we went galaxy hunting and several of us found M81/M82 and were able to view both in a low power eyepiece. Other galaxies were tracked down and seen because we had no moon in the sky. I even spotted Mag 7 Vesta just in front of Leo but did not try any comets.

It was very humid and my dew guard gave out about 10:30…but I was freezing anyway. When I closed the gate at 11:30, it was 40 F…Brrrr.

Steve