Comments and anecdotes about the event:
Subject: Report: Morgan's Grove Star Party - A Triumph Over Clouds and a Stellar Night! Hi everyone, Just wanted to share a recap of our **Public Star Party at Morgan's Grove Park last Friday night**, and what a night it was! We really had to play hide-and-seek with the clouds, battling both high thin veils and stubborn lower clouds throughout the evening. Despite Mother Nature's playful mood, our incredible team managed to find enough clear patches to show **103 guests** some of the true wonders of the night sky! It was a fantastic testament to everyone's patience and dedication. A huge shout-out to our members who brought out their equipment and expertise: * **Dan** was set up with the club's **Unistellar eVscope2**, providing a consistently great view of the **Ring Nebula (M57)** for most of the night. Guests were incredibly impressed with the clear and colorful image on the tablet, with some even downloading the app on their phones to view the celestial beauty themselves! The eVscope really shines in those less-than-ideal conditions. * **Sandy**, with her AstroTech AT 102ED refractor, had quite the challenge with transparency ranging from 0 to 3, but skillfully used her laser pointer to hunt down objects. She managed to resolve a brilliant blue-white **Vega**, picked up **Sadr** as the sky momentarily cleared, and found the absolute star of the night: **Albireo!** Its beautiful color contrast was a huge hit with our guests. Before the clouds thickened, Sandy even managed to just resolve **M57**, and impressively resolved all four components of **Mizar** in Ursa Major. Our last view was **Antares**, where the color distinction from earlier stars was noted. Despite missing M4, Sandy rightly concluded it was "not bad for a difficult night!" * **Jim** was also tirelessly chasing holes in the clouds, making **Albireo** (for its stunning color) and **Alcor/Mizar** (for their clear separation) popular double star targets. He sadly missed Mars, which played peek-a-boo behind a tree and the bluest part of the sky. A truly heartwarming moment was Jim assisting a lady and her husband to align and use their new telescope, which she had won at work! She got quite good at finding objects by the end of the night – a future astronomer in the making! * **Steve Berte** also had a successful night, spotting **Vega, Arcturus, the Double Double, the Coathanger**, and the ever-beautiful **Albireo**. All in all, what started as a potentially "no-gazin'" night turned into a wonderfully engaging and memorable event, thanks to everyone's persistence, shared passion, and the sheer joy of showing off the universe. The camaraderie was high, and it was a great night of outreach! A massive thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible, and to our guests for their enthusiasm!