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Saturday Night Viewing at Kye's Star Farm
December 27, 2003
George DeBarros
After debating for most of the morning, whether to go to Jonathan
Dickinson Park or Kye's Star Farm, and looking at the Clear Sky Clock
several times, I decided to call Kye and head over to Venus. I then
called John Clifton, and he agreed that Kye's place would be clear
weather, while JD park could be mostly cloudy.
We arrived about 4:30 PM to find the sky clear as a bell. We set up
the equipment (I had my 10" Starmaster, while John and Maria (his wife)
brought a 12" LX200 GPS, and an Orion 4" refractor). As dusk approached,
I took lots of pictures of the beautiful sunset with Venus (the planet)
in the background. As the Moon was not setting until around 10 PM, we
had plenty of time to set up.
Well, around 7 PM, the sky suddenly clouded up, and we were left wondering
if we had made the right decision. But, after an hour of astronomy chat,
the sky once again cleared and we thanked the clear sky clock people for
once again making the right prediction. We then had a fantastic viewing
session throughout the night with Kye our gracious host viewing with her
10" dob and showing us the sky like only Kye knows. John did lots of
imaging from Saturn, M42, NGC869 & NGC884 (the Double Cluster) and several
others. (I'm sure it will all be on his report) and I, with my Starmaster,
had a great time with lots of viewing.
Even though the sky was clear and dry, seeing could be a little better.
The temperature was predicted at 48 degrees, but I'm sure it must have
been at least 10 degrees colder, and we just had enough clothing to
suffice. Around 2 AM, after Jupiter had risen, (my first look this
year) we decided to call the night.
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Sunset in the town of Venus showing the planet Venus in the evening sky. |
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Me with my 10" Starmaster. |
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