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by Andrew Dalke.
Original Post: Tonight's Star Party
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Saturday night closest to the new moon - must be time for a star
party. Was expecting to go out salsa dancing in ABQ but turns out the
band played last night.
A score or so of people showed up this evening. Almost everyone
wanted to see Mars, which meant it got kinda boring for me. Pretty
turbulent sky. Could barely make out the south pole and a couple dark
marks. Last month the view was much better.
Also went for Uranus, which was amazingly close to Mars. This was the
first time I looked for it. The telescope's alignment is off, so it
took a bit of back and forth. Then a strange blue spot appeared. It
was obviously not a star, and in the right spot, so I'm calling it
Uranus. Somday I gotta go for Neptune, and on a good night I should
be able to get Pluto.
Did a couple of Messiers as well, like Dumbbell. Then waited a few
hours chatting until Orion got high enough to get my first view of M42
for the season. Season indeed, now that it's past the equinox and I
can feel the cold of winter approaching. In any case, M42 is an
amazing sight.
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