Open Night: Mars beautiful, few see it

The night of April 26 was an Open Night at Stephens Memorial Observatory. Mars was the featured object along with a couple of star clusters, that moonless night. I feared a big crowd -- Mars can really pack 'em in -- but over the course of the night only eight visitors came. Those who did visit, however, had the best telescopic views of planet Mars that I have ever enjoyed! Seeing conditions were only "good" but Mars was at opposition only a little over a week earlier. Through the 9-inch refractor we could easily see shadowy forms on the surface of that tiny, distant world with a trace view of a polar ice cap. The seeing conditions worsened as the evening wore on and I could not find the star cluster promised (M3 - the "Beehive") to save my life! The visitors drifted away as we closed early due to increasing cloudiness. This night I wish we would have had many more visitors so that I could have shared the remarkable view!