we did it! (Beaver Valley)

The Farmer's Pantry, near Clarksburg, after 2 years of trying, finally offered an astronomy evening without clouds and rain! We finally were able to offer a tour of the night sky, naked eye, through binoculars, and through the telescope!

After handing out our new RASC explore the universe cards, my brief talk on astronomy, and quick walk-through of the RASC Star Wheel, we headed into the orchard. I fired up the 'scope, removed the caps, and we were on our way.

We viewed Venus and Saturn through the 'scope while noting Mars in between. As the 20 people took turns at the eyepiece, I did a tour of the bright stars, Summer Triangle, and the emerging constellations. We then viewed some double stars starting with 1x power of Mizar and Alcor, followed by 55x. Then Albireo. Finally, we took in the First Quarter Moon. The crowd was culled by the ferocious mosquitoes.

A few diehards remained. I gave them some challenge targets, the Double Double and M57, before my corrector plate completed dewed over and my eyeglasses fogged up. It was damp in the apple orchard!

It was a good crowd, young and old, and in between. One very enthusiastic boy with a lot of the correct answers. I gave him a comp. SkyNews. I was pleased to see a young couple anxious to learn how to use the planisphere. They got a tutorial. Mary-Lynn was very happy—we broke the jinx.