HAL's Last 2021 Scheduled Star Party was a Big Success!
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/13/2021
On November 13, 2021, The Howard Astronomical League held its November Public Star Party.
Despite the chilly temperatures and intermittent clouds, the event was a resounding success.
Bob Savoy and I hosted the 150+ guests who enjoyed the evening. Hannah Broder and Dale Ghent
helped out under the dome. Outside, our guests were entertained by ten members and their
scopes. Bob Savoy set up a table and explained the dynamics of The Solar System while a
non-member worked with a celestial sphere.
We opened the dome shortly after sunset to catch
Venus before it sank too low in the western sky. Afterwards, we viewed
M13, The "Hercules Globular Cluster"
and M57, "The Ring Nebula."
Many of the participants wished to see Jupiter
and Saturn, so we displayed these planets and their entourage of moons. At approximately
6:30pm, it became somewhat cloudy. For 30 minutes, we kept the Illig trained on the moon as it
passed behind clouds. Once the clouds receded, we continued deep sky work with
M31, "The Andromeda Galaxy" and
NGC 891.
In between each deep sky object, we slewed to the moon, Jupiter
and Saturn as the guests requested.
"The California Nebula" imaged surprisingly well using
SharpCaps' LiveStack function. Afterwards, we viewed
"The Crab Nebula" and
"The Pleiades". We ended the evening with
"The Orion Nebula."
At 11:30pm, Dale Ghent, Phil Whitebloom and I closed the
park. The only glitch encountered was the camera twice disconnected from the laptop requiring
all software to be reinitialized. This occurred while the Illig was motionless and no guests
standing nearby. Thanks to all who participated. I apologize for not being able to walk around
the event to speak to each member who braved the cold night. I was quite busy under the dome.
Respectfully,
Ken Everhart
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