Susan Webster
Fall 1995 may have been the best semester of all time for Public Viewing Nights at the SSU Observatory. The weather was beautifully clear, and we averaged about 50 people per viewing night. We answered questions on all kinds of astronomical subjects. We also had help from members of the Sonoma County Astronomical Society, who often bring out their own telescopes and set up next to the observatory. We looked at the Swan, Lagoon, Ring, and Dumbbell Nebulae, the Andromeda Galaxy, and Saturn. Only the December viewing was rained out.
In the spring we were not so fortunate. We were able to view the sky only in April and May. We looked at galaxies and the moon. The atmosphere was so clear we were able to see 6 or 7 satellites flying by. This was very exciting to the younger viewers present. I think this year was a good year for bringing together amateur and professional astronomers, especially with the arrival of Comet Hyakutake. It was good preparation for the Hale-Bopp Comet due in the Spring of 1997.
A highlight of the spring semester was the Robert Ferguson lecture series. This series had well-known speakers Seth Shostak, Timothy Ferris, Alex Filippenko, and Joseph Silk. The series was a fund-raiser for the Robert H. Ferguson Observatory, to be built by the Valley of the Moon Observatory Association at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. The goal of the observatory is to create public access programs that will bring the wonders of astronomy to students and other members of the community.
