powell observatory

This was my third visit to the observatory and I still haven't had the chance to look through the big telescope. This is not the fault of the operators, who are all volunteers. The weather plays a big part as do the number of guests on that particular night. Some helpful advice...plan to go on a clear night and arrive early. The first time I visited, it clouded up and noone got to look through the telescope. The second time I visited, it started out clear, but then clouded up before my turn came up. The third visit, the line was just too long. We had waited for two hours and we still had about 30 people in front of us.When you arrive, get in line and buy your ticket for the presentation first thing. We looked around at the telescopes sitting outside first. When we got our tickets, we were placed in the second group of the evening. I believe they had three groups that night. They want you to sit through a short educational slide show before you line up for the telescope. In my estimation on this particular night, it was taking about a minute per person to go through the line. You can count the number of people in front of you and do the math.I have to commend the volunteers. Many of them bring their own telescopes and are happy to let you look through them. They will focus and refocus their scopes many times. Even though the mantra throughout the night is "Look with your eyes, not with your hands", many people young and old would inevitably put their hand on the scope and cause it to move out of focus. In addition, everything you're trying to look at is moving all the time, so they are also constantly adjusting for this. I think these volunteers are saints.