| Observer: | Tom Campbell |
| Location: | Lubbock, Texas (Long: 101°56'W Lat: 33°47'N) |
| Telescope: | 8" f/6 Dobsonian |
| Eyepieces: | 1.25" Plössls - 25mm (49x), 20mm (61x), 15mm (81x), 10mm (122x), 6mm (203x), 4mm (305x) 2.0" 51.5mm (24x) |
| Seeing: | Mostly Stable (7/10) |
| Transparency: | Mostly Clear (8/10) |
| Temperature: | 70s |
All times are Central Daylight Time (UT +5)
Last night’s star party at the Gott was a wonderful evening under the sky. Even with a crescent Moon, the band of the Milky Way could be seen stretching all the way from Scorpius to Cassiopeia. And dark dust lanes were easily visible near the region of Cygnus, high overhead. Even the skyglow from nearby Lubbock couldn’t compete with the glory of the stars.
A well-rounded variety of scopes were present, including refractors, reflectors, and Cassegrains. A lot of favorites were seen, including planets (Saturn, Mars), galaxies (Andromeda, Little Andromeda, Mirach’s Ghost), planetaries (Dumbbell), nebulae (Veil, North America, Lagoon), double stars (Albireo, Almach), globular clusters (M13, M15) and open clusters (M7, M11, M39). But the highlight of the night was Comet Jacques, easily seen in the same field of view as Herschel’s Garnet Star.