Black Star Canyon Star Party Recap – Saturday July 30th, 2016
 
This past Saturday the sky was warm & fairly clear throughout Orange County so when we opened the gate about 7:30 pm, we were not surprised to see there were 12 cars waiting at the gate. A few more came in while all were being parked totaling 18. By the end of the clear night, we had counted a total of 23 cars that had come to the BSC star party and almost 50 people.

Upon driving half way down the dirt road to the viewing site, we came across a 5 foot rattlesnake. I got out of the Jeep and scared it into the bushes but was concerned all night as people walked up or down the dirt road. So do always watch were you are walking and do not wander into the brush.

The first object that became visible after the Sun set was Jupiter and three of it’s big moons. Moon Io was not visible as it was passing in front of the big planet. Then Mars became visible and Saturn. The short ISS pass at 9:19 pm was too low and dim to be visible.

We set up in the usual spot by the middle picnic table and Larry set up his big 9.25” Celestron scope next to us in front of the 1st picnic table. Larry showed me the best views of Saturn and many other objects during the night as his scope was able to hold higher power views. A bit farther away, Bob & Matt Dahms set up a big 18” DOBS with guests Cara & Brandon. They were showing big views of many objects to all but even they were not able to see any detail on Mars when I looked.

On the other side of us, David Murphy was set up and had 4 guests. Kelly & Dalys were first timers. Curt & Kyle set up their scope but they had battery power issues all night. Kyle did show me Mars & Saturn. Also near by was Enrique (Ricky) & Eliza beth (Lizzy) Manzano.

We had many people set up scopes across the way including Robert Cunningham with 2 guests, David Kim & Chris Domiguez. George & Peggy Robinson set up on that side too but was having drive motor problems. Farther down, Ves Snelson & Norico set up an 8” Meade LightSwitch scope with guests Jed & two children (10 & 7 yrs) . He showed great views of M13, the Eagle Nebula & The Wild Duck Cluster. Don Stountenger was out after a long absence and set up next door to Ves getting his equipment operational once again.

Also attending was Jola Jablonska, Bill Pratts, Bonnie & Marty, Mike Holritz & guest Yuka. Tanya & Paul Stone were there along with Alan, John & Julia Martin. Marcelo Reginato was there again as was Kellee Eiselein with her guests Paul & Mandi Drinkward & Amber Sjostrom. Sergio, Lily & Alek Peratoner also attended with Kaeli Wilson. Also Paul Dresmore & Steve Mizera were at this star party.

We did enjoy looking at all the visible planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars & Neptune but were not able to spot Venus or Mercury. M13 looked good but we were not able to spot Comet X1 Panstarrs or Asteroid Pallas. We did see a number of meteors flash across the sky.

We were lucky to have fairly clear skies all evening long and it stayed very warm. We closed the gate at 11:45 pm and the temperature was 73 F. We felt it was another very successful BSC star party.

Please forgive us if I missed anyone or we got your names spelled wrong. Bonnie tries hard to log in everyone and get your names right.

Steve & Bonnie