helped at the DDO open house (Richmond Hill)

In two ways I helped at the David Dunlap Observatory open house...

At Leslie's request, I bought and brought beverages (coffee, tea, and fixin's). Brought my big camping cooler too. And I helped on the front lawn during the public tour (scheduled for 7:30 PM).

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Tested my new finder scope dew heater. It worked good. It looks so fragile though. And the rings are too tight for the tubing... Gilles had a good suggestion: glue around the nichrome wire to protect and strengthen.

Jupiter and its moons were in fine form—when clouds didn't block it.

Viewed Messier 31 (M31) for a while. Could not pick out naked-eye. Helped Walter find it in his 60mm refractor.

Viewed Messier 13 (M13) for a while. Very nice at 110x. Individual stars popped out. Spectacular view in the 12" Dob—wow.

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Enjoyed the special treatment by the DDO staff, Tom, Tuba, Ian, et al.