two left

Two of the North Simcoe club people sprung a question on me once we got outside, for the star party portion of the evening. They asked if they could set up their own equipment. Oh. I hadn't expected that (although I can't say I was entirely surprised). Peter hadn't said that anyone would want to do that. In fact, he led me to believe they were all novice level or thereabouts. That most only had binoculars.

These two weren't novice... They had full rigs. One person wanted to do imaging! One had a big gun: it looked like an 11" SCT. Not fooling around.

I accepted their request with some concern. It would have been nice to know in advance, mostly to avoid the shock, a brief gaping mug. But I also wondered how long they were planning to carry on. It would get a bit weird if they wanted to go into the wee hours...

I got it! I realised why these guys didn't car pool. Ah ha.

Periodically I would check on their progress from the Observing Pad. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Getting a taste of our somewhat dark skies (with generous light pollution from Collingwood) and the social aspect of the Pad. Nicole was observing and imaging beside them, having fun, sharing views, learnin'.

Nicole reported that they "did plug in. It was nice because they really enjoyed it."

A little before 12:34, they had packed up. They popped into the GBO Warm Room to thank me. I said I hoped they enjoyed themselves. I said I didn't know they wanted to do that but I hoped that I accommodated them satisfactorily. And I hoped that the images worked out.

And they were on there way, the last of the North Simcoe Sirius Stargazers. And astroimagers. We resumed Normal Operations.

§

It would have been nice if these guys had put something in the donation jar.