On October 2nd, a group of 16 guests had an in-depth tour of LCOGT's Goleta office and workshop, while learning about LCOGT's mission and goals. They traveled in executive shuttles to Sedgwick Reserve, where they were welcomed by Sedgwick staff and volunteer docents, as well as astronomers and volunteers from LCOGT.
They took a tour of the Sedgwick house and had the opportunity to ask questions about the Sedgwick family and the history of the property. A delicious catered picnic dinner followed. During dessert, the guests were given an observation menu of objects that would be observable through the telescopes that evening, and asked questions about what they would be seeing.
After dinner, everyone hiked up to the telescope and had a tour of the constellations along with some of the mythology that inspired them, as well as a few Native American constellations. The guests used the 0.8 meter Sedgwick telescope and a 7 inch telescope to observe a double cluster, Jupiter, the Omega Nebula, Comet Hartley 2, M2, the Ring Nebula and more.
This event was an auction item sold at Sedgwick's Open House in April. The event was made possible by donations from LCOGT, Sedgwick, and the generous folks who bid on the party.