Black Star Canyon Star Party Recap – Saturday September 24th, 2016
 
The sky was warm & fairly clear throughout Orange County so when we opened the gate about 6:15 pm, we were not surprised to see there were at least 10 cars waiting at the gate. Quite a few more came in while all were being parked totaling 20 by sunset. By the end of the clear night, we had counted a total of 23 cars that had come to the BSC star party and over 30 people.

The first object that became visible after the Sun set was Venus low on the western horizon. Later Mars & Saturn became visible behind the Scorpion’s 3-star head. By the end of the evening, some of us even viewed Uranus & Neptune. But unlike last month, we were not able to see Mercury or Jupiter.

We set up in the usual spot by the middle picnic table and Sam set up next to us by the 3rd table. He was quick to view Venus, then later share views of the Ring Nebula and M31. Robert Cunningham set up a bit farther along with his guest David Kim. Vittal was out again and showed Bonnie the Swan Nebula through his 8” DOBS. He even showed her Omega Centauri low in the west, the largest known globular cluster. Dave Murphy also set up in that area.

We had many people set up scopes across the way including George & Peggy Robinson who looked at many objects and took images of Pluto I think Roger Cotton, was also on that side. Rob McKenzie set up his 11” scope past the 2nd gate and showed stunning views of M57, M13, M92 & Albireo. Later he was showing the small disc of Uranus & Neptune. Rob & his wife also had two guests.

Ves set up his 8” Meade LS next to Rob and Don McClelland set up next to Ves. He tried to run his scope from his new hybrid but the battery would shut down every hour. Also on that side, Matt Dahms set up his 18” DOBS and showed me Mars that was huge and shimmering.

Also attending was Marcelo Reginato, David Murphy, and Erick Seavey with his 11” Celestron. Victor Tanious and his guest Mostafa Sobaih had fun as did Alvin Bishop & his guest Burt Hermey. Bill Johnson brought his big Celestron 11” in his “Best A/C & Heating” truck. He showed me a nice view of M31. Rashad & Veronica enjoyed the star party as our guests as did Ed Rosenblatt. We also had special guests, Bonnie’s son Scott & his son Kevin down from Washington. Andy David showed up late after her dinner engagement bestowing honors on her volunteer outreach activities.

We were lucky to have clear skies all evening long and it stayed very comfortable. I closed the gate at midnight and the temperature was 60 F. We felt this was another one of the best BSC star parties we have ever held.

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