Log, Jul 21, 2000
23 people. We had visitors from as far away as Minneapolis. They arrived early on their way to a night's lodgings in West Haven but decided they couldn't stay late enough on a night when the skies were so unpromising. We bid goodbye and hoped they would have better luck later. Later turned out to be sooner, because before long they had turned around and came back. Its a good thing too because they got a chance to see comet Linear.In truth, the night wasn't very good. For a while the clouds thinned but they never went away. We dragged out or bad sky favorites, Albireo which was quite beautiful, the Ring [M57] which was remarkably clear for such a poor night. Joe tried the Dumbbell and of course we put up comet Linear as soon as thing got clear in the north.By 11, all was grey grim overcast and dismal sea mists. Definitely under-wonderful for using the scope. The four stallwarts [Joe, Art, Dave and Les] spent some time looking at a high precision telescope positioning head. We plan to install a permanent platform on pad #1 for Mrs. Lee's donated Questar. We'll cut the post down a couple of feet put a pipe cap attached to a "mini-table" with three holes that will allow us to cinch the positioning head to the anchored table. Once we achieve an excellent polar alignment, it will only require a few minutes to set up the Questar any evening. This will allow us to use the tripod for field trips to schools or other events.After some chit chat at the Nature Center (while we hoped against common sense) for some clearing, the four stallwarts finally gave up and went home just before 1.-Les Coleman
