A small group of diehards observers, some new members and guests made it out to Big Woods on Friday, April 12. Despite the pollen, which is a problem when observing in April, everyone had a pretty good time. It was pretty clear for the most part, but some small clouds rolled in later in the evening. Everyone stayed out until around midnight.
Michael Mantini brought a new Mallincam Xtreme to try and do some first time video astronomy with his LX200 10″, and got some nice views of the moon, M42 Orion Nebula, M104 Sombrero Galaxy, and M51 Whirlpool Galaxy. While video astronomy doesn’t produce the resolution that imaging does, it allows much better viewing, especially in conditions which are not ideal. For example, capturing the Orion Nebula took only two seconds of integration. This certainly redefines the meaning of immediate gratification.
