Sidewalk astronomy at the library

Westlake (Ohio) Porter Public Library requested a sidewalk astronomy event to take place during their Customer Appreciation Week. We were only too happy to oblige. After dicey late-afternoon cloud cover the sky cleared in time for setup at 7:30 and viewings from 8:00 to 9:15 off the sidewalk adjacent to the (brightly-lit) parking lot. Still a fellow astronomer (with an 8-inch SCT) and I (with my 6-inch refractor) showed curious visitors Jupiter, the Hercules Star Cluster (M13), the Ring Nebula (M57), and the great Andromeda Galaxy (M31). I was pleased at the performance of my scope's electronics for, after eyeballing polar alignment and a one-star computer alignment, the scope tracked Jupiter exceptionally well and found M57 on the first try! No disconnects and good tracking all evening. The Ring was very difficult for most viewers to spot in the eyepiece but it was actually the best view I've had of it. M13 through the SCT was a beautiful sight, M31 was its usual fuzz-ball self but not bad at all, and Jupiter was best viewed shortly after sundown. Seeing was unsteady at lower angles and as the planet sank lower in the sky occasional good seeing ended and the planetary disk was unclear. The good moments revealed multiple cloud bands in addition to the two big equatorial belts so patient viewers got a good look. Closed up shop at the appointed hour and answered cosmological and planet detection questions from a very curious adult visitor. It was cold (lower 40s F.) so good to get indoors.