Karl and myself were met by other three of our members last night,21-10-12 at our regular darksite.I(Duane)got there at 5.30 to get set up,on a arrival the sky was clear,the only drawback was the Moon,which hindered most of the night until it set.We did however suffer 100% cloud cover for a while,but then Capelle broke through,then all of Auriga came into view,low and behold it turned into a great night.One or two sparodics were seen,Orionids were also confirmed.
One of our newest members Warren was helped by everybody present,as he is a complete newbie,whom by the end of the night was a lot wiser,thanks to Karl.Myself and Karl showed Warren various celestial delights,to which he was completely blown away.When i showed him the Moon he said that what he saw was incredible,he did'nt realise he could see lunar detail so well.
Warren ask plenty of questions and we gave him plenty of answers.Sadly as the night wore on the dew hit and it hit hard,everybodys gear was soaked,so we all decided to pack the gear away and just use our eyes.
The Moon by now had set appx 10.30pm,and boy did the sky disclose its beauty,the Milky Way was like diamond dust scattered from an invisible celestial hand hidden among the myriad of stars that this darksite produced.
The pleiades and Taurus,Auriga,and Jupiter the Jovian giant were well clear of the Horizon.Gemini lead by Castor and Pollux was coming well into view,by now it was 10.45pm,Betelgeuse,Bellatrix were coming into view,but dew was still the curse of what was a great night.We were all up early the following morning and decided to head home at 11.00pm.
I can safely say everybody present had a fantastic time,slightly damp and cold,we entered the warm confines of our vehicles and left.
Roll on the Leonids November 17th.
Regards Duane.
Subject: Orionid Night 
Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:00 pm
