This was my fist trip to Cherry Springs during the winter. The odds of having a clear night this time of the year are pretty small, but this time we got lucky. I was surprised to see the field had only patchy snow and ice cover - the Winter Activity Report for Cherry Springs on the DCNR's website was showing a snow depth of 10 inches. They must not update it too often.

One thing that is updated often is the Clear Sky Clock. And it was right-on this time too. Skies were clear throughout the night except for some jet contrails early on. Temps made it to around 23° F and an occasional slight breeze was a little harsh on exposed skin after a while. A heavy frost coated everything.

We were fortunate enough to have a full night of observing. Skies were as transparent as I've ever seen them at the park. Seeing was pretty good too, early-on that is. We were viewing Saturn at 510x shortly after moonset, but seeing steadily degraded as the night wore on. It was a great night for DSOs though. Lots of meteors too.

Shortly after I arrived, Don Ferguson and his father, Don Sr. pulled in and set up. We spent the next few hours until moonset killing time by looking at showpiece objects and comparing views through the different size scopes. After the moon set, I continued working on my Herschel 400 project. On this trip I crossed off another seventeen objects, which puts me at 207 - just passed the halfway mark! I called it quits at 5am and got some sleep before tearing down and heading home.

This was the first time that I've done an all-nighter during the winter. I found it kind of odd to see constellations set and rise during the same night. If we were closer to the new moon, this would have made for one looong night of observing.

Even though temps were pretty cold, I managed to stay pretty warm aside from exposed parts of my face and hands. Elliott and Tom built a fire in the pavillion to thaw out our frozen bodies, but I never did end up making the walk over. Thank God for hot coffee!

In all there were six of us viewing: Elliott McKinley, Tom Bakowski, John O'Hara, Don and Don Ferguson Sr., and myself. Bill Henry also showed up for a while.

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Last Updated: December 29, 2003