HAL Public Star Party (May 8, 2010)

Well tonight's star party at Alpha Ridge can be chalked up as another victory for mother nature I suppose.

When I arrived just before sunset there were already about 10-15 people present and maybe 3-4 scopes setup. The skies were almost completely covered to the West and conditions seemed to be deteriorating. The wind gusts were also fairly strong at times resulting in a rather chilly evening for May.

By 9:30pm most folks had packed up due to the clouds. We even felt a few drops of rain and then maybe 15 minutes later the sky cleared out almost completely for a short time. During that brief window of clear sky, we were able to do some Binocular observing. I was able to get some glimpses of M44 and M3. Unfortunately the skies began to cloud up again pretty soon after, and the rest of us decided to head out.

Let's hope for better luck next time.
Aaron