Friday, July 16, 2010

quick visit (Richmond Hill)

Went to the DDO primarily to receive the Panasonic projector for my astronomy presentation at the Farmer's Pantry. It was Members Only night...

Karen let me in. I put on my bug jacket and gloves. Couldn't find my baseball cap (had I forgotten it again?!). Nicole and Gilles were there with the Meade 8" SCT. I think Gilles was tutoring somehow on how to set up a 'scope, including doing a polar alignment. Rajesh and Diane were stewards for the evening. In fact, Rajesh was flying the 74". The glob we viewed was dim. Transparency was poor. Bryon and I chatted briefly. Diane and I chatted about how to possibly insert the red gel into the walkway lights. Spent some time chatting on the front lawn with Stu while glancing through his small refractor on an iOptron. The Moon was great.

I identified Mares Crisium and crater Picard!

I was drawn to the 3 equally sized craters (Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina, according to Virtual Moon Atlas) near the terminator, just below the equator. We noted the multiple peaks in the centre of Theophilus. Initially we saw two. Later, I could see another peak, a third one (apparently there are four).

Tempted to stay a bit but I wanted (more) to get north.

A few members had shown up by the time I left.

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