No one was waiting when I opened the gate at 4:15 (temp 67F), probably because it was a bit cloudy. But as I set up, people started to show up and we looked at the 1st quarter moon. Then Jupiter came into view and when it got dark, Greg’s daughter Katie started spotting satellite after satelite. New member Ryan was fascinated with how we align telescopes and seemed to really enjoy his first star party.

Tina brought her husband Steve out for the first time and Dave dropped in late deciding not to set up his huge 14″ Celestron…just enjoying the sights through scopes already in action. We did spot Uranus not far from Jupiter and Neptune. I was able to view M36, M37 (very dim) & M38 as did Tina. But I think I was the only one who found asteroid Hebe down below Jupiter however I was not able to find any of the others. We all viewed the Andromeda Galaxy at one time or another.

Later when Orion came up, we enjoyed the Great Orion Nebula and binocular views of the pleiades, Hyades and M42 were stunning…especially in the 15X binoculars Val & I brought out.

I locked the gate at 10:15 and the temp was a mild 59F.

Happy December Holidays!!