The last impromptu of the month was a fantastic one as we had 12 members enjoying the wonderfully dark and clear skies of last night. The night was a little chilly but we had no clouds almost from the very beginning.

Some members were observing through their dobsonians, while others where imaging or aligning their equipment (me included). I was also able to chat with a few new members who showed up to see how we setup and if they wanted to join next time, and it was my impression that we will see more members showing up to the impromptus.

Once everyone was done setting up their equipment, members started walking around and saying hi. It was nice hearing conversations all over the place.

There was a couple of Seestars around and I was able to test the club’s one for a more extended time. I will include some objects I imaged with it to encourage people to sign up to use it. I may not meet it for an entire month myself but that is how long you can take it with you and use it when your turn comes.

Finally, I appreciate that everyone was very responsible in closing the gate behind them when they left. This is for everyone’s safe enjoyment and I was really happy when I locked the park gates at 2 am and I found them closed. Some members even emailed me to let me know they closed the gates when they left. Wayne, who is also a key holder, stayed until 3:30 am and locked the observatory and the park as well.

Also, just a little but very important thing I want everyone to know is that the bathrooms in the park lock themselves automatically at around 10 pm and we don’t have the code to unlock them and our key doesn’t work after they get locked so we always manually move the deadbolt of the doors before that happens to avoid the door shutting down. Please leave them like that when you use the bathroom or we will not be able to open them until they unlock themselves in the morning. I also don’t know if it would become impossible to unlock them from inside if someone gets locked inside so let’s not find out.

That concludes my lengthy report. Thank you for assisting and sharing last night.

Jose Urias