The clear sky chart looks promising this evening and the winds are predicted to moderate but maintain enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitos away. Feel free to come early if you need to set up (7:30pm). We should be able to see the bright planets sometime around 9:00pm, but astronomical darkness for deep space objects won’t arrive until 10:50pm.
We have several people bringing telescopes, to include a 12inch SCT and a 10 Inch Dob, so we should have a great time! Bring yours if you so desire. Saturn, Mars & Jupiter should be great and the stunning milky way nebulas like the Lagoon, Swan and Triffid will be in a perfect observing location.
Bombahook Observatory shows just how much astronomy one can have from one’s yard near town, if only one chooses one’s home carefully. Unlike Your Illustrious President’s beloved and beautiful, but tree-encrusted, birding-focused yard, Brian Murphy’s home in Bombahook Estates is set on a large field, with open views of the sky in all directions. It was prescient of him to have bought this home years before discovering astronomy! We had been trying to avoid the Fourth of July weekend, assuming CMASians may be busy with other events. When no one was available to host on the 9th, Brian noted that an Almost Fourth of July Star Party would surely be better attended than no star party, and graciously offered Bombahook.
