The 2nd annual Astronomical Barbeque and Star Party were held at Cerro Coso
Community College (CCCC) on 19 October 2007. Supporting this fundraiser for
the College Observatory were the Cerro Coso Community College Foundation,
CCCC Faculty, Staff, and Students. Members of the Ridgecrest City Council
and the China Lake Astronomical Society assisted as well. The barbecue
dinner along with entertainment was held from 5:30 to 7:00 pm on the College
Library’s front lawn. The evening ended with the Star Party at the
Observatory that began at 7:30 pm. About 300 - 400 people attended this
event and all had an enjoyable time.
The chefs for the BBQ were Ridgecrest Mayor Chip Holloway, City Councilman
Dan Clark, and City Parks and Recreation Director Jim Ponek. Dr. John
Stenger-Smith, Professor of Chemistry/Physical Science along with Yesterdaze,
a popular local singing group provided excellent musical entertainment
during the dinner. Master of Ceremonies and President of Cerro Coso College
Dr. Mary Retterer conducted a raffle of many prizes. Well received, three
back-to-back 25 minute slide show presentations of a brief overview of
Astronomy was given in the College Library Room 604 by China Lake
Astronomical Society (CLAS) charter member Carroll Evans.
Earlier in the week there were some questions about the weather being
suitable for the event. However, conditions on Friday evening ended up
permitting operations at the Observatory. There was 10% cloud cover,
temperature 65 deg F, and a southwest wind at 12 miles per hour.
The Cerro Coso College bus driven by Larry Board provided about 6 trips from
the dining area to the Astronomical Observatory. When people arrived at the
observatory Dr. Shlanta using a green laser pointer brought to the attention
of the guests the big dipper, the north star, the Constellation Cassiopeia,
the Square of Pegasus, the location of the Andromeda Galaxy, the summer
triangle of stars (Vega, Deneb, and Altair and their constellations), the
Teapot, and the planet Jupiter. A thrill occurred when we were able to see
the space station cross the northern sky. Then the people went inside the
observatory compound where nine stations were waiting for them set up with
telescopes, a TV screen to view the Moon from an electronic eyepiece in a
telescope, and a set of binoculars. Recordings of excellent space oriented
background music at the observatory was provided by Dr. Tom Foggia. Manning
the equipment and explaining the celestial views seen were China Lake
Astronomical Society members Neal Barry, Roger Brower, Calvin Clayson, Peter
Eiserloh, Kiran Mehra, Chuck Morgan, and Clint Spindler Also assisting by
manning stations at the observatory were Richard L’Hommedieu and Bill Weiss.
The telescopes set up at the Observatory consisted of refractors,
reflectors, and Schmidt Cassegrain systems ranging in size from 5” to 12” in
diameter.
For the astronomical viewing the Moon was the highlight of the evening and
we were able to see it in its quarter phase. Looking along the terminator,
of light to dark, under magnification people were able to see peaks in
craters and craters in craters. Jupiter and its Galilean moons was also a
popular object. M45 Pleiades (the seven sisters) was a popular sight as
well. The blue and gold dual colored double star Albireo was a favorite of
many. Also viewed were the globular Cluster in Hercules M13, M31 the
Andromeda spiral Galaxy along with its two companion elliptical galaxies M32
and M110, M27 the dumbbell planetary nebula, and NGC7662 (another of the
show pieces in the Andromeda Constellation) the Blue snowball, a blue
appearing planetary nebula.
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