Last night (Sunday 9/8) I opened up Rancho Canada del Oro so folks can do some observing under semi dark moonless skies. We had perfect weather – warm and no wind. The lot filled up by 8:30 as we had 15 scopes set up. There were a couple of families that came out and set up their scopes to show their kids the night sky. Rancho continues to attract beginners as folks find out that all of us are very receptive and helpful. Everyone comments on how nice it is to see the band of the Milky Way.
One of the highlights last night was the huge blue-green fireball that streaked across the sky around 11:30 pm. It looked like it had a NE to SW path that took it just above Capricorn. One person commented that it probably was space debris of some type since it was moving so slow.
A number of folks made comments throughout the night that they were seeing some nice meteor streaks. I saw 4 good ones and a few brief flashes. To my knowledge the next major meteor shower is the Draconids with a peak scheduled to happen October 7th-8th.
We finally wrapped up around Midnight. Overall it was a darn good turnout for a Sunday night!
A big thanks to all who showed up – a lot of new friends were made and all had a good time.
Clear skies,
Dave Ittner