pool side viewing (Campbellville)

Collette and James invited Jenna and me over for dinner while they house-sat near Milton.

I noted they had bought a new book: The Stars - A New Way To See Them by H.A. Rey. I quickly skimmed it. Wonderful illustrations. I was impressed with the easy style, the non-technical approach. It looks like a good book for beginners.

After a late dinner we headed out to the deck. Had to be careful not to fall into the pool until we were dark-adapted.

I helped James with the Bushnell 'scope again. The process he was using did not seem to be aligning it properly. He didn't have the manual with him so he was going from memory. I tried a two-star alignment. Still not perfect but it got us into the neighbourhood.

Another factor for James was the multitude of stars he could see here in the country (despite the light pollution from the Mohawk race track) compared to when he views from his backyard in Oakville. He'd select an object, look through the eyepiece, see dozens of stars, and assume he was on target. I showed him that in fact when he was on a star listed in the catalog, he'd know... I.e. it was incredibly bright compared to the background field stars. I think that helped him.

I helped James with some bright stars and constellations.

We looked at Albireo. Everyone enjoyed the colours and different brightness levels. I explained the difference between optical pairings and co-related stars orbiting each other.

I could see Jupiter through the trees. We stole some looks, between the leaves, before the clouds moved in. I could see two of the moons (Ganymede and Callisto) flanking the king of the solar system. We also took a look at the Ring Nebula.

We got lucky with the weather...