July 12, 2025 Seagrave Observatory Night
by Jim Hendrickson
Saturday, July 12 was an open observatory night following the monthly meeting, with Michael Corvese on the Clark, myself on the 12-inch Meade, and Francine Jackson directed visitors and had conversations about the solar system and night sky, and gathered people to view a low northern pass of the International Space Station. About 15 members and guests observed with us this evening.
As it doesn’t get dark until well after 9:00pm this time of year, the first object visible was Vega, which I was able to align the scope on. Since the Double Double is just 2° from Vega, it was my first shown object until it was dark enough to view other objects, which included Albireo, M11 and M13.
The Moon rose at around 10:00pm, brightening the sky significantly. This limited viewing to the brighter objects. I finished with the Collinder 399, the Coathanger, which showed nicely in the guide scope.
