4th of July Star Party

4th of July Star Party, originally uploaded by MPR Photography (Matthew2000tx).

My family came in from the dark skies of west Texas to visit my wife and I in the light polluted city of San Antonio, TX where we currently live.

Modification to the Celestron 3" Dobsonian:

After a run to Home Depot for a 1/4" T-Nut and some drilling and hammering I had a tripod mount and it made it easy to set up the 3" dobsonian on our slanted driveway. We took in views of the moon and later in the evening Jupiter. Once again we are really enjoying the wide field of view (FOV) that this 3" offers. My wife noted as she was looking at the moon, "I like that you can see the whole moon and yet the details are crisp and clear."

All in all it was a real joy to show my family some astronomy on a semi-smoke filled night. (all the works from before). My dad even asked if I thought he should get one of these little $50 telescopes... I stated it wasn't bad but new eyepieces are a must to make the telescope shine.