Partly cloudy skies greeted 9 RASC London Centre members for a Star Night at Springwater Conservation Area Campground near Aylmer, Friday, July 12th, 2013. Members present included Dan Tremblay, with his 12.5-inch (32cm) f/6.6 Truss-Tube Dobsonian; Steve Imrie, with his Orion SkyQuest 8-inch (20.3cm) Dobsonian; Matt Neima, with his Celestron C8 (20.3cm) Schmidt-Cassegrain on a Losmandy mount; Harold Tutt, with his 80mm Stellarvue Night Hawk refractor on a Vixen alt-azimuth mount and Celestron 15 X 70mm binoculars on a tripod; Bob Duff, with his 20.3cm Dobsonian; and Dave McCarter with his 25.4cm Dobsonian, which he set up later as skies cleared. Other members present included Everett Clark, Peter Jedicke and Patrick Whelan. There were 9 RASC London Centre members present with 6 telescopes and one tripod mounted binoculars in all.
There were an estimated 35 visitors throughout the evening. Dan reported showing visitors Saturn, the crescent Moon, Albireo, Mizar and Alcor, through his 12.5-inch (32cm) Dobsonian. Steve reported people viewing the Moon, Saturn, Mizar and Alcor in his 20.3cm Dobsonian. Matt showed people the Moon and Saturn through his Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain. Harold showed visitors Saturn, Vega and Arcturus through his 80mm refractor and 15 X 70mm binoculars. Dave showed people the Ring Nebula (M57), globular cluster M13 and Saturn in his 25.4cm Dobsonian. Bob showed visitors the Moon, Saturn, Arcturus, Vega, Mizar and Alcor in his 20.3cm Dobsonian. In all, it was an excellent evening of stargazing, which ended shortly after 11:00 p.m.
Bob Duff
Higher Education Liaison
RASC London Centre