Reports

A number of the HAA members got out to enjoy the partial eclipse from our location. We knew there wasn't going to be much of a show since we were only expected to get about 18% covered and the Sun would set before the eclipse completed. However that didn't discourage us from trying.

Some members ended up at Binbrook Conservation Area to view the event from that location.

Ann Tekatch got some nice shots and posted them in her own Facebook album.
Ann's album

Jim Wamsley also captured a nice sequence of images and has posted them on SkyDrive. If this link works, it should give you a slide show of his images.
Jim's SkyDrive slideshow

And then I went down to Port Dalhousie (near St Catherines) to capture the event over Lake Ontario to try for a few extra seconds of visibility. It turned out to be a busy spot since the weather was so nice. So I ended up doing some sidewalk astronomy. I had several pairs of the solar glasses which we shared amongst the many people and I showed some of the images I had captured. A lot of fun.
Don's Facebook album

Sample image

Forecasts for very clear skies drew out more than a half dozen HAA members to our favourite observing location, Binbrook Conservation Area. The CSC was indicating, while cear and above average transparency, the seeing was expected to be poor. Fortunately that part of the model was incorrect and we had very steady and crisp conditions. It was a bit windy initially, but it eventually settled down.

HAA members Gord, Vince, Les, Matthew, Don, Tony and Mike all showed up eager to get some observing in. And the skies didn't disappoint. A variety of equipment was set up with DOB's refractors and SCT's of various sizes which gave us opportunities to view objects through different scopes for comparison. There was lots of conversation and swapping of gear so we could better learn which is best of our respective needs.

A beautiful sunset greeted us as we were setting up, along with Venus waving good bye as it gets ready for its transit of the Sun and transition to a morning star.

More images can be seen in the album on our Facebook page.