Log, Jan 6, 2006
1 person- yours truly. Early in the afternoon I put up the "closed" logo on the website due to the forecast and the heavy cloud cover. However by 5:30 PM, the Moon was out brightly at my house and lost of stars were scattered about the sky. So quick like the proverbial bunny, I ran over to the laptop and updated the website to say we would try to open. I got into my warm duds and drove over to the Observatory. I was nearly run over by a herd of deer but otherwise it was an uneventful opening. To the southeast I could see Saturn (in Cancer) lying below Gemini. Orion was clear but to the north and west, clouds were already rolling in. It was also very windy. When I turned the scope on the Moon, the surface looked like it was underwater with rippling waves. Saturn looked like a Salvador Dali watch (all melted and bent). Stars looked like sparklers rather than points of light. To say that the seeing was mediocre was a vast understatement.I waited around for any to visit, but all I got for my efforts was a socking in of the open area above FDO. First Saturn disappeared, then Gemini, Orion and ultimately even the Moon could not be seen, hidden by denser and denser clouds. Still I waited until about 8:00 PM before I said to myself "Self, thou art duller than a doorknob if you believe you are going to see anything, at least for the next few hours." So I wrapped up and went home.Note: Next week (January 13th), I will be out of town and unable to open FDO. So no matter what the weather we will be closed.-Les Coleman
