We had a great night tonight for our public stargazing night at McQuesten Park in Hamilton. Well over a hundred people visited more than a dozen members with a wide variety of scopes. We had clear skies so lots of interesting things to see. Moon, Saturn, Globular Clusters, double stars and more. Met a lot of really nice people and had fun showing night sky objects and answering lots of good questions.

(click on image to see larger version)

We even saw a new, previously unrecognized (as far as we know) feature on the Moon which we have affectionately identified as the Lunar Diamond – Palus Somni – which in the lighting we had tonight, formed a perfect large diamond shape right next to Mare Crisium. While visible in scopes, it was more pronounced in a pair of 15×70 binos where it was first identified. Perhaps the 3D nature of binos makes it easier to spot.

Any way, the HAA would like to thank everyone who came out to help and those who participated. We’re glad you joined us and had fun. We really enjoyed your company.