Foiled by cloudy weather a week earlier, forecasts for Sept 11th didn't offer much more comfort and it looked as though a similar fate would befall the rescheduled event at Hook's House. However by Saturday itself, some forecasts offered more than just a 'fool's hope' for the evening, hinting at clearing skies. The dice were rolled and we gambled that skies would be clear. The gamble paid off and Mark, John, Keith and Lee rolled up at the campsite shortly before 20:00hrs under clearing skies. Mark had already transported the two dobsonian scopes over earlier in the day, and with another refractor, Keith's eVscope, John's small cassagrain and Lee's reflector, six scopes were eventually deployed on the sloping grassy meadow overlooking the 'Bay'

Hook's House - equipment being set up (click for full image)

The campsite itself was still pretty full, so although publicity placards had only been dropped off that afternoon, word had filtered around the field and people began to gather. Naturally, the primary targets would be Jupiter and Saturn, already visible to the south, but as a waxing crescent moon was setting in the WSW, attention was split between them and it. As expected views through the eyepiece were pleasing - to say the least, with 'seeing' quite steady and images detailed. The Cassini division was clearly evident in Saturn's rings along with its chief moon Titan. Other moon's may also have been glimpsed. As skies darkened fully, Mark was able to conduct a comprehensive constellation sky tour with the laser pen, pointing out the unmistakable soft glow of the Milky Way could be traced from horizon to horizon, even the dark northern rift in Cygnus was very apparent. 

Hook's House - Keith, with John and Lee, ponder over the eVscope app.
(click for full image)

Attention turned to deep sky objects, our usual favourites:- the Ring Nebula, Dumbbell, M13, M31, etc. Keith’s eVscope APP images were remarkable, including some stunning ones of the Whirlpool galaxy; M51. By 22:15h, two hours after the first views of Jupiter, people began to dwindle away, thinning out the crowd to just a few. It had been a rewarding and satisfying evening much appreciated by the campers. Many thanks to fellow members and of course to Jill and all at Hook's House for their continued support at this much cherished event.