Comments and anecdotes about the event:
Hosted at the (new) Pinnacle Mountain State Park visitor center, the early evening was completely clouded with low expectations for stargazing. The high school students had just arrived from Osaka, Japan the night before and had given a cultural exchange talk to a local elementary school earlier in the day. With Osaka’s sky being so bright with lights the students were hoping to get a good look at the sky. As sunset fell, Darrell Heath and Bruce showed demonstrations of the size of the galaxy and the solar system. With much help from the group’s interpreter, Darcy Howard gave a presentation about the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society and compared the similar latitudes of Osaka and Little Rock, noting that our skies would appear the same. Fortunately (!) gaps opened in the clouds. Bill Sanders, Carl Freyaldenhoven and Darcy set up their telescopes, and the students were able to see bright Jupiter and moons, Mars, and the constellation Orion.