A Night at the Observatory
April 15, 2016
by Ed Mizzi
Another great night at the Observatory was had by all on Friday, April 15. I thought I would arrive early to get the roof rolled off and things set up, but when I arrived, two keeners, Mark Smith and Jen Hillier beat me to it, so thanks to them for getting things started.
In all, ten people participated in the event and, by all accounts, everyone had a fulfilling evening, with views of Jupiter, the Moon and a couple of deep sky objects. We were also treated to a flyby of the ISS at approx. 21:25, an event that never fails to amaze.In attendance, and besides myself, we had Muhammad Ahmad, Murray Romisher, Dave Dev, Jeff Booth, Connie Booth, Dilip Mahto, Martin Palenik, Mark Smith and Jen Hillier.
Besides the C14 and 16”, a few people set up their own scopes. Martin had his very first telescope out, a nice refractor that gave us clear views of Jupiter. Mark had his Dob, Jeff his Celestron and Dave was doing some “sub” testing with his Sky Watcher Star Adventurer mount and DSLR. Muhammad also had a nice pair of binoculars we all shared.Mark and Muhammad also did some imaging with the C14 and got some good material.
Everyone who had not yet witnessed the mechanization of the roof were amazed, thanks to David S. And everyone stayed to help out with rolling the roof back on and cleaning up.
There was plenty of astro. talk going around and I’m sure that each and every person left the Observatory with new knowledge and an even deeper appreciation for this super hobby.
