Sat, Mar 16 2013 - Hiking, Astronomy & Comet-Gazing with Telescopes at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center (View Original Event Details)
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We AOC skygazer-hikers felt blessed to have clear balmy weather both for our nighttime observing sessions and our adventurous 5-mile hike on the scenic trails at Charlie Elliott. Hurrah for “Comet Pan-STARRS” and the beautiful night sky! It was a big bonus to get a few nice binocular views and photos of the comet and its upward-pointing tail just above the western horizon in the hour after sunset.
Our friendly Atlanta Astronomy Club "CE Chapter" hosts treated us to unforgettable views of the heavens at their dark-sky observing fields. After the comet had set we had dramatic telescopic views of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, the great “M42” nebula in the sword of Orion the hunter, and giant shadowy craters on the crescent moon. Most of us also were lucky enough to see a brilliant “fireball meteor” streaking across the northern sky and were also treated to a brilliant naked-eye "iridium flare" from a passing satellite.
The Astronomy Club's late afternoon indoor program featured a delicious potluck dinner and an interesting slide show on “What’s Up in the Night Sky?”.
This was the AOC's 5th enjoyable "hiking + astronomy" visit to the wildlife center and we definitely plan to offer the event again in the future. Our hats are off to our friends in the "CE chapter" of the Atlanta Astronomy Club for always being such gracious and entertaining hosts. Special thanks to Larry Owens, Marie Lott and Clay Turner for their hospitality at the meeting and to Theo Ramakers and Frank Garner who accompanied us to "Dove Field" and offered valuable pointers on viewing and photographing the comet and other cosmic objects.
-Submitted by Charlie, March 18, 2013
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