SCAE 2008 was tons of work, but it was also tons of fun! Attendees filled the OPT Underground Gallery on Saturday afternoon, July 12th for four great lectures by representatives from the amateur and professional side of astronomy! Later that day, the event moved to Palomar College for an evening lecture by Dr. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute, as well as a public star party. Breaking with tradition, our skies were actually clear, and even though we had some artificial and natural light pollution to contend with, we got great views of the Moon, Jupiter, and some brighter deep-sky objects. Enjoy the views:

Scott Kardel kicks off SCAE with a History of Palomar

Scott Kardel before he dashes back up to the mountain!

Gary Palmer gave away lots of Extreme Astronomer T-Shirts!

An Extreme Astronomer in the crowd gets a free T-shirt!

Nick Law of CalTech is ready to go on next...

Nick wows the crowd with LuckyCam images.

Marc Rayman of JPL gave a great talk on the Dawn Mission!

Lunt Solar was on hand for viewing from the OPT balcony

Speaking of Lunt, here is rep Russ Tanton with Gary Palmer!

OPT Boss Craig Weatherwax mans a cash register in the store

Pat Knoll of OPT poses with actress Arlene Martel

Dr. Seth Shostak chatting with the crowd before the Keynote Address

Dr. Shostak's lecture was one of the best I've ever heard...
if he is speaking at a location near you, it's worth the trip!

I know, lots of lights, but hundreds turned out and had FUN!

Thanks to Palomar College and Mark Lane for a successful event!

Click for pictures of SCAE & the Giveaway Raffle on July 19th, and here for pictures of the vendors' booths!