General Session - March 5, 2020

Constellations: Orion, Perseus, Taurus, Ursa Minor
Asterisms: Big Dipper, Winter Circle 
Stars: α Arneb & β Nihal (in Lepus), Alcor-Mizar
Clusters: Melotte 25/Hyades, NGC 869/NGC 884
Planet: Venus
Messier Objects: M31, M41, M42 (Orion Nebula), M45 (Pleaides)

Identified, not Observed & Not entered into Logbook or database:
Students were shown the location of Boötes with Arcturus, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Cassiopeia, Gemini, Leo, Lepus, Taurus.

Location: York Redoubt
Date: 2020-03-05
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM ADT
Moon: 81% Waxing Gibbous
Instruments: Visual, Binoculars 10x42 IS, 10" Meade SCT telescope
Transparency: not recorded
Seeing:  not recorded
Temperature:  not recorded
SQM:  not recorded

At York Redoubt with Tony Schellinck's SCANS class. Also with us were Jerry, Blair MacDonald, Dave Hoskin, David Robertson and Bob Russell. We had arrived at 6:30 PM to set up - no breeze but foggy. Through the fog, we could see Venus shining through the western sky. At 7:25 PM (with students expected to arrive at 7:30 PM), the fog completely cleared to expose the clear sky.

Big Dipper, Mizar-Alcor
Time:  not recorded
Equipment: Visual, binoculars
S&T Chart: 31, 32, 33, 43, F
One of the women asked me where the Big Dipper was. I turned her attention from the S-SE sky to the NE where the Dipper was standing on its handle. Using our binoculars, I pointed out Mizar and the smaller adjacent Alcor to her.

Ursa Minor
Time:  not recorded
Equipment: Visual, binoculars
S&T Chart: 41, 51
For the first time in a long time I could actually locate all 7 stars in the asterism with no difficulty. The bowl was pointing downwards. Ask if I was excited!

	Orion, M42 Time:  not recorded Equipment: telescope S&T Chart: 14, 16, B Blair was using his refractor to look at M42, specifically at the Trapezium. Jerry could not see the small star at 4:30 o'clock to the lower θ Trapezium (θ-1 Orionis multiple star) that I cold see. Really cool!
	Winter Circle Time:  not recorded Equipment: Visual At the zenith of our skies was Capella that made its appearance around 7:30 PM. As the skies cleared, the remainder of the Circle appeared.