16 people. The haze was denser and the air was less stable than Friday, worse yet we could see heavier cloud to the north and condensation of the haze into out and out fog to the south. However considering our luck this year with the weather, tonight constituted a 7 of 10 (On any other year the number would have been closer to 2 of 10). The weather report described savage storms with golf ball size hail to the north of us near Boston.

We picked the same targets as Friday. Mars was much the same, although it wasn't as easy to pick up most details. Strangly, the polar cap was much more prominent. We saw about the same image both night because Mars has a day slightly more than a half hour longer than Earth's day.

The Moon was less distinctive as the shadow had move almost 11 degrees more towards fullness. Mare Erythium which had been in early dawn light with the Sun low on its horizon now was bathed with bright morning light. Still each crater is something wonderful in and of itself.

Several early arrivals got a chance to see a star in the bright blue/haze sky. To demonstrate the telescopes abilities, we panned to Spica which the Moon had passed on Thursday. It really impresses people that the stars are out in the day.

Gathering clouds and lightning flashes approaching from the north drove us home early. We were concerned that the power might fail us when the lights flickered several times. By 11:15 we wrapped up and were headed home.

-Les Coleman

Author:

Leslie Coleman

Entry Date:

Jun 30, 2001

Published Under:

Leslie Coleman's Log