Held August 23rd at Franklin Park. The skies offered a chance to get a good look at the Sun and Mars early on. The planet was 25.03" in diameter and -2.85 in magnitude. It was estimated that 460 visitors showed up that night. At least 60 Novac members were on hand. Many thanks to Will Stewart for managing the event.

Wow! Cool! Wow! Novac trustee Rob McKinney exclaims during his first look at the sun through a hydrogen-alpha filter. The filter is mounted on a 6" Astro-Physics refractor at f/35.

The crowd begins to build.

Bob Bunge (left), talented mars observer and artist confers with Pete Johnson (middle), gifted astronomer and owner of G.O.D. (Giant Optical Device) and Bob Gent (right), President of the Astronomical League. TJ the 20" - f/6.4 dob is in the background.