"Starlights, Drinks, and Bites" at Buffalo Museum of Science June 6, 2009

This yearly event is always fun to participate in and once again it did not disappoint! The “BAA Astronomy Road Show Crew” and all our visitors enjoyed themselves in spite of the cloudy conditions that prevailed throughout most of the night. Another great crowd attended this year and estimates were in the 500+ range. Although the clouds rolled in about 45 minutes prior to one of the highlights of the evening-- the Moon’s occultation of the star Antares, we were able to provide a few glimpses of a full moon with Antares approximately 10’ to the east and some very brief views Saturn. All were wowed by the awesome views while they lasted.

I also had my traveling movie theatre on the roof which we projected various astronomy themed movies on to as well as some live night time video images of the spectacular Buffalo skyline architecture observable from our vantage point. You need to do this sometime if you weren’t there this night.

To add a little drama to the evening we even had a fireworks display after the baseball game at Coca Cola Field which was off in the distance. I was there just hours before volunteering for "Family Fun Days" which is a big fund raiser for my wife's agency- "WNY United Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse (http://www.wnyunited.org/).

As always a few adult beverages always seem to relieve a little bit of the sting and disappointment of cloudy skies and somehow enhance the experience! We hope to see you at next year’s event.

I got home around 1 AM after a long fun and rewarding day!