Clear skies greeted 12 visitors, including 11 seniors and one young adult, from the Bryanston Socialites to the Cronyn Observatory for Exploring the Stars, Tuesday, October 8th, 2013, 7:00—9:00 p.m. Graduate student Parshati Patel made her digital slide presentation on “Constellations” with a bit of the “Solar System.” RASC London Centre member Suzie Chelico also attended, but left the Cronyn Observatory after the presentation and a view through the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian operated by Steve Gauthier.
Besides Parshati, other graduate students present included Shannon Hicks and Dilini Subasinghe. RASC London Centre members who assisted included Steve Gauthier and Bob Duff, who arrived later, around 8:15 p.m. Objects observed in the big 25.4cm refractor, using the 32mm Erfle eyepiece (137X), included the 4-day-old crescent Moon and Venus. Steve used the London Centre’s 25.4cm Dobsonian to show visitors Albireo and M13, using the 17mm Nagler eyepiece (66X), and M57, using the 12.5mm Ortho eyepiece (89X).
After the visitors had gone around 9:00 p.m., Professor Jan Cami gave 2 graduate students a tour of the dome. Steve, assisted by Bob, realigned the finderscope on the big 25.4cm refractor, using the star Vega, high overhead. They enjoyed pleasing views of Epsilon Lyrae, using the Meade 28mm Super Wide Angle (157X) and 17mm Nagler (258X) eyepieces. They also looked at M57, using the Meade 28mm (157X) eyepiece with the nebula filter hand-held.