Martin Willes sets up his Astrophysics refractor with a Baader

Energy Rejection filter and Hydrogen-alpha filter. Dick McNally

Florida's famous Winter Star Party is up and running with a sold-out crowd enjoying temperatures in the 80s. Many telescopes are set up on the beach, and not just for the night sky. Some observers came equipped with Hydrogen-alpha filters, and they're taking full advantage of the day sky and solar observing.

Other attendees are visiting vendors or catching a few rays at the beach. The Winter Star Party runs February 12–18. Held three-quarters of the way down the Florida Keys at Big Pine Key, the event boasts exceptionally dark skies. There are lots of accomplished astrophotographers waiting to capitalize on the chance to train their telescopes and cameras out over the dark Atlantic for deep-sky images.

As for me and my wife, Mary Lee, we're looking forward to wandering around the beach tonight and enjoying some of the wonderful images displayed through the eyepieces of some very expensive equipment. Meanwhile, we're checking out the prominences on the Sun.