This page shows photographs from typical open houses at Peach Mountain Observatory (located near Dexter, Michigan).
Here’s a photo of some intrepid Lowbrows setting up in the snow at dusk last night (March 5, 2005). Mark Deprest had the foresight to bring a snow shovel, since the field (near the radio telescope) still had close to a foot of snow on it. Mark had done a lot of shoveling, then as each of us arrived we’d clear more and more area. It was a great way to warm up when we got cold.
In our neck of the woods we had Yasuharu Inugi, Nathan Murphy, Mark Deprest, Paul Walkowski, Jim LaBelle, and yours truly. Mike Radwick, Bernard Friberg, and maybe others were down at the observatory. Despite a discouraging forecast, the skies held out and we had some great views of Saturn, Comet Machholz, Orion, Jupiter, and numerous winter deep sky objects. Mark claims to have seen eight Saturnian moons, but I could only get seven, with Mimas, being right close to the ring system and very faint, eluding me. The boy scouts arrived right on time, and I have to say that they were very well behaved. Paul, be sure to tell the leaders and parents that their behavior was exemplary.
Anyway, we all had a great time as did our guests.
Doug
These photographs show Lowbrows preparing for an open house on July 9, 2005. You may need to scroll your browser to the right to see the entire scene. Click on each photo to larger versions.