By Ed Downs

It was another night at the Astronomy Club of Tulsa’s observatory, just southwest of Mounds, Okla. Yes, that is in the middle of nowhere, just right for dark night observing.  It was also a visitor night, with a group of kids from a scout group and many adult visitors planning to join our group of astronomy nerds as we pointed our telescopes starward. With pleasant temperatures, it looked like a great observing evening, so of course, Oklahoma weather decided not to cooperate. Altostratus and cruciform clouds covered about two thirds of the sky, but a group of diehards headed out to do what we could to entertain and educate guests. 

Our local expert and guru, John Land, conducted a terrific planetarium show, using what little of the sky could be seen by using a laser pointer, all the while promoting safe use of laser pointing devices, but trying to find a good target for beginners to view proved difficult. This writer was asked to see if I could find M 31 with my 12-inch Orion reflector, sometimes called a “light bucket” due to its ability to suck in even dim objects.  Sure enough, M 31 was located, and folks were invited to view this wonder of the skies.  We then realized the “M 31” meant absolutely nothing to the newcomers, and finally announced, “Who wants to take a look at the Andromeda Galaxy?”