Local Astronomer Don Machholz says last week, August 4, it was cloudy and the star party they had planned at SugarPine Reservoir outside Foresthill  was cancelled.  So on Saturday, August 11, local residents will have another opportunity to star gaze through telescopes.  Astronomers will be setting up telescopes at the Sugar Pine Reservoir Boat Launch Parking Lot, near Foresthill.  Besides seeing Mars and Saturn, we will also see stars, star clusters, galaxies and meteors from the Perseid Meteor Shower.  Also visible, although faint, is Periodic Comet Machholz 1, a comet I discovered in 1986, making another appearance to our skies.  The viewing is free and dependent upon the weather.  We will be there from 9:00 to 10:30 PM.

To get to the Sugar Pine Reservoir Boat Launch parking lot, take Foresthill Road through Foresthill and continue another 9 miles to the Sugar Pine Reservoir turnoff, which is to the left.  Follow that for 5.7 miles to the Boat Launch parking lot, which is on your right.  Enter the area and turn right into the large lower parking lot.  The telescopes will be set up on the upper parking lot.  Please park in the lower lot.

You can find information about all of these astronomy activities, and the 2012 schedule of future astronomy events, at www.thecomethunter.com.