2007 Cherry Springs Star Party Report.
Well, after 2 years of bad weather, the weather finally came through for The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg.  We had good seeing all 3 nights.  I have seen it better at the Park, but this trip was well worth it.   Thursday night, the sky started leaving around midnight, but everyone was pretty much tired anyway.  Thursday was the coldest night of the 3.  The temperature got to a low of 28 degrees.  Friday, the sky stayed all night.  The seeing was excellent.  About the only drawback this time of year is that the Milky Way doesn't reach overhead until early morning.  It only got down to 30 degrees on Friday night.  Both temperatures were the low, but it was cold by nightfall.  Saturday, it wasn't quite as bad.  It never got below freezing.  Jimmy Mack brought his 17 1/2 Dob with him.  Mack and I took a spin throught the Virgo and Coma Clusters.  That was the most Galaxys I have ever witnessed in one night.  We had a max of 7 Galaxys in the eyepiece at one time.  We took a stroll through the "Mankarian Chain", a string of Galaxys in Virgo, and I counted a total of 19 Galaxys throught the swing in total.  The ones' that I could identify easily with my atlas were, NGC4374 (M84), NGC4406 (M86), NGC4438, NGC4435, NGC4402, NGC4461, NGC4473 and NGC4477.  NGC4402, 4435 and 4438 are new entries for my logs.  The weather forcast said that the sky would cloud over between midnight and 1AM and they were correct.  The sky just closed up.  I won a CR1 Moonlite Focuser in the Chinese Auction.  That was the first time I won throughout the years.  Felt Real Good.  I am very glad I made this trip.  I had good skies, very good friends and a very good time.  Please check out some of the pictures we took on this trip.
Arthur and I are on our way to meet Jimmy Mack, Dave and Ed at the WAWA where I-80 and the Northeast Extension meet.  The views are always beautiful.  If you love nature, the trip to Cherry Springs State Park is very nice.
Here we are on I-80 in Pennsylvania.  I cannot remember going to Cherry Springs State Park when there weren't clouds in the sky.  You kind of get that sick feeling in your stomach, like, here we go again. 
As usual, Route 44 offered it beautiful scenery as well as twist and turns.  I would love to take this road in Go-Cart. 
With the absence of factory pollution, the water is crystal clear. 
The guys pulled over to check out this Brook.  Here, I think Jimmy is taking a Pi-----cture.
He is looking down like he is either aiming a Camera or .......
The following are some shots from the Campsite.
Dave and Jimmy
My little corner of heaven. My Van, My new 10' X 13' X 6' Tent and My
12 1/2 inch Dob.  Boy was this tent nice.  I had my Mattress, a table, my cooler, my luggage and a chair inside this tent.  Nothing beats space.  Being able to stand up inside my tent was great.  Especially when changing or putting on clothes. 
Ed with his 17 inch Meade, with a beautifully constructed base and tracking platform. He done all the work himself.  Fantastic woodwork.
Arthur setting up his Celestron C8. 
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