Black Star Canyon Star Party Recap – Saturday September 5th, 2015
 
This past Saturday the sky was clear and warm throughout Orange County so when we opened the gate about 6:45 pm, we were not surprised to see there were 16 cars waiting at the gate. By the end of the night, we had counted a total of 28 cars in the parking area and about 45 people.

We did not get to see Mercury as the Sun set because a hill blocks low lying objects. Saturn was in Scorpius so was well positioned for viewing and a favorite early target.

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 again. The best view I had of several objects was through Larry’s telescope including M57 & M8 (the Lagoon Nebula). Vittal set up his 8” Meade DOBS and showed Bonnie how to find the Coat Hanger. Ameeta & her friend Ann showed up early and enjoyed looking through scopes.

Rob was first in the auxilary parking just past the 2nd gate and during the evening he showed stunning images of many objects including M13, Uranus (with small disc) and the ET Cluster. Ves Snelson set up his Meade 8” LS next to Rob but had lots of trouble getting it aligned and later getting it to point properly. Finally, after a software reset, it worked perfectly much to his relief.

Sam & wife Nancy set up next to us and shared nice views of several objects. Their friends Henry & Marlene seemed to have a great time. Setting up across from us were Peggy & George once again and he showed me a great image of M13. Near them were Jonathan & Jennifer and they had a nice big image of M57.

Many others showed up including Paul & Tanya Stone, Bonnie & Marty, Marcelo Reginato & Seung Jun Kim. Also attending were Jonathan Hankey with neighbor Moe Fariba & Zack (6) and Mixit (10).

There were a number of 1st time BSC star party people, including Kristen McCune & dad Steve McCune, Mick Porter & Judence Wright. Also attending for the first time after a 20 year absence from the OCA was Bart Pembroke. We also had Mike Waters from Texas A&M. This was the 2nd time for Tyson Lee.

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.

The Summer Triangle was well placed for viewing. Double star Albireo looked nice as did the double-double up by Vega. I had nice views of Saturn & moon Titan through our 6” Meade LightSwitch along with M22, M8, M57, M13 & M92. Bonnie liked M31 through binoculars but was even better through our telescope after clearing a small tree. We even found Neptune and Uranus early on and compared views with Larry next door.

The gate was locked just after midnight and the temperature had only dropped to 57 F. Everyone raved about having a good time and the sky stayed very clear all evening.

Steve & Bonnie