We offered our first free public stargazing event last Wednesday night, which was only one of two clear nights in the last several weeks. Nine people (4 locals and 5 tourists) attended throughout the three hour program. We had amazing views of Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Perseus Double Cluster, and more. At one point in the evening of the attended guests asked if we could try to get a picture of Jupiter with her smartphone. We couldn’t get hers to work, but I managed to get the attached image of Jupiter and three of the Galilean Moons–not bad for a Droid camera held up to an eyepiece!
I am going to purchase a digital camera and an adapter sometime soon so that we can send everyone away with a high quality photo of one of the objects that we view.
All in all, it was a fabulous evening. I can’t wait for the next stargazing event, which will take place every clear Wednesday night at 7pm at the North end of Stilson Parking Lot at the junction of Highway 22 and Moose-Wilson Road in Jackson Hole, WY.
Until then, clear skies!
–Dr. Samuel Singer
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