Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Under Palomar Skies

Under crystal-clear Palomar Skies the Friends of Palomar Observatory held its first star party for its membership last Saturday night. Here are a few shots from the evening.

This one is looking south towards the dome of the 200-inch telescope and the summer Milky Way. While the professionals were observing supernova remnants the small crowd gathered for the star party saw the Moon, Jupiter, a passage of the International Space Station, the Ring Nebula, numerous star clusters, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and more all thanks to the observatory docents who ran the show.

Here is the view to the north with the Big Dipper just above the sky glow caused by the lights of Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles Counties.

This last shot is time-lapse showing an observatory docent and a staff member playing with a light-up frisbee. A good time was had by all.

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