A Darker View

New Moon, a perfect weather forecast and a weekend... Time to load a 'scope and go observing!

The evening saw a large crowd at the visitor station, tourists visiting the island, locals enjoying the mountain, and even a cub scout troop learning about astronomy. First Saturday brings a lecturer from one of the observatories, this month it was Stephanie Nagata from Mauna Kea Support Services talking about how Mauna Kea is managed.The lecture was as wide ranging as the job of protecting the resources of Mauna Kea. From telescopes to archeology, from tourists and commercial tours to wēkiu bugs.

The night was nearly perfect, excellent transparency and good seeing graced a moonless night, perfect for observing. The only flaw was a chill and sometimes gusty breeze to jostle telescopes and chill exposed skin.

The chill wind did not dampen the mood of the crowd. While cold conditions often result in a quickly dwindling crowd, this night many visitors stayed to the end. There were still lines and clusters of folks around 'scopes at the 10pm closing. In addition to the VIS telescopes there were plenty of telescopes brought up by local amateurs. Cliff, Tony, Chris, Larry, Dan and myself filled the parking spaces in front of the VIS patio with telescopes from 4 to 24", an impressive array of optics under the stars.