04/18/09 BSC star party Recap

Posted On April 20, 2009


I opened the gate just before 7 PM and we already had a long line of cars waiting to get in. I noted that it was 74 F and the sky was absolutely clear.


As it got dark, we found Mercury but it was not much to see in a telescope. Somehow we missed seeing the Iridium flare at 7:41 PM. But Saturn was spectacular and we could see a few of the brighter moons.


I was not able to see any of the comets but might have spotted Ceres above the Lion. M3 & M13 were very clear and many of the members went galaxy hunting since the sky was so dark. Several of us had M81 & M82 in the same field of view with a 40 mm eyepiece.


It was so warm that I didn’t put on a jacket until 9:30 PM. Everyone finally left by 11:30 PM  as The Scorpion was rising in the SE. I closed the gate at 11:45 and noted that the temp had dropped to 48F.