The third night at the Great Lakes Star Gaze (GLSG) started out clear but turned cloudy around 11 p.m. That’s too bad, because lots of observers were waiting for some great objects to climb high in the sky.
Editor's note: Visit the online photo album, "Astronomy on the road: Great Lakes Star Gaze 2008" for images from Michael's trip.
During the day, I spent several fun hours chatting lots of attendees, including well-known amateur astronomer Tom Trusock. Tom has written several telescope reviews — his specialty — and a large equipment round-up story for the magazine. We chatted about recent star parties we’ve attended, how well the magazine is doing, and new telescopes and accessories each of us have seen recently.
Tom and I, along with several others, used “Dobzilla,” a 25-inch Dobsonian-mounted reflector one of the Michigan clubs set up. Through it, we viewed several deep-sky objects including the Veil Nebula (NGC 6992/5) and the Deer Lick Group (NGC 7331). Just as the clouds moved in, Tom centered Stephan’s Quintet (NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320). He saw four of the five galaxies before yielding the eyepiece. After I climbed the observing ladder, I observed three of the Quintet until the field went white with cumulus clouds: not what you’d call a quality observation.
As the keynote speaker for GLSG, I presented my second talk entitled, “How the Constellations Came to Be” at 4 p.m. Saturday. This talk doesn’t have as many “laugh-track” lines as the talk I gave yesterday (“The ABCs of Observing”), but, once again, I received lots of good comments afterward.
Around sunset, the organizers of GLSG held the giveaway for door prizes. Lots of manufacturers, as well as the half-dozen or so vendors who attended the star party, had donated items for the big giveaway. Astronomy was well represented with year-long subscriptions, special issues, and other items. Everyone stayed to see who would win the last item. GLSG raised some money for the organization by raffling off a brand-new Tele Vue Ethos eyepiece, which Tele Vue had donated.
Previous blog: Great Lakes Star Gaze, days 1 and 2