Star hiking

Had a chance to bring out the telescope last night to go star gazing. There was a small group of people, a dog and a couple of kids. Very different from the first group I took out, but everyone was lots of fun. It was a new moon and not many clouds in the sky so it was a perfect opportunity to get out and look at stars with the telescope. It was really cool but I think the telescope is better suited for moon gazing rather then star gazing. We did manage to find Jupiter but it was really hard to see the rings. I think we will be able to get great resolution for the moon but stars are just too far away for it too handle. Next time I hope we can bring the big one. But it was really cool to be able to find a star and look at it up close. Can't wait to get out on a moon hike some time soon. I have heard that a few days before a full moon is the best time as that is when you get good relief on the surface detail. Guess we will find out.

Full moon hike

As part of the backpacking meetup, I organized a full moon hike. I was a little upset that someone else stole my idea and posted one on their site too, but I guess I should take it as flattery that they liked my idea enough to run one themselves. I had a small group show up but that was perfect as this was the first time running this and I wasn't 100% sure of the location. I also wasn't sure the time of moonrise was going to work with the start time. Turns out we should have started a little later. The location, while perfect for star gazing, was in a depression making it a little hard to see the moon at first. I brought in my stove and pot to make hot chocolate for everyone. We also had someone show up with a telescope. This would have been really great except they forgot the eyepiece on their bed. So alas, no telescope. I did bring my star book so that made for some conversation and star gazing for a while. We did have someone show up with Tarot cards and do some reading for some people. All in all, it was a great event. I think I will organize more of them and I might go out and get a Walmart special telescope just in case. I also think I will be running a New Moon hike a few time s as well to do some star gazing. Why just stop at the moon, there is a sky full of great things to look at. And the depression I ended up choosing will be perfect for star gazing as it cuts out a lot of stray light.