Austin Under the Stars is Austin's only large public star party. Held on the grounds of St. Stephens School on the western edge of town from 6 to midnight, it is a hidden gem. The field was completely free of mosquitoes for the entire evening. There were more than 50 telescopes of all kinds set up. I set up on Jupiter until it set and then Saturn with the Questar. The Milky way was barely discernible so I left DSOs for the big scopes. I switch between eyepiece views and showing the planets via the wireless live view from the Sony a6300 to my iPad. Everyone agreed that the views in the eyepiece show the planetary moons much better, but they were delighted to see the iPad view.

The view above was one of my first visitors! The crowd was very curious and diverse and I was peppered with questions. My favorite was what was between Saturn and its wings from a fellow who said that this was his first look at a star through a telescope!

My daughter Anne and her family had just arrived for a visit. They were tired from the long drive and it was great to share this experience with them.