[Lvas] Desert observing tips / Anybody up for observing this week?

[Shawn Mann]

Hi guys! I'm new to the list, but I recently went out to Redstone, here are
some thoughts:

- Redstone will have light pollution to the west from the city, but it's not
unbearable. It's definitely worth making it out.
- The picnic area is located on a road with minor traffic, but it seemed to
be enough that I wouldn't be too worried about most animals. Worst I've
heard reported was desert foxes.
- It can get windy and a bit chilly outside, I would certainly prepare to
have jackets ready, even if it seems hot during the day.

Over all I would recommend Redstone as a place to go that is nearby Las
Vegas, easy to find, with reasonably dark skies.

- Shawn Mann


On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:29 AM, Rob <scopegeek at gmail.com> wrote:

> Jonathan,
>
> Tomorrow night and Friday night we have a couple of Education Outreach
> Events we are doing.  Thursday night we are up at Camp Foxtail on Mt
> Charleston for a 5th Grade Elementary Class and Friday night we are at
> Sunset Park for the Las Vegas Area Council Scout Expo.  We're expecting
> around 500 Scouts to visit our scopes Friday night.
>
> We may have some folks going out Saturday night to the Redstone Picnic Area
> on Northshore Road which is north of Lake Mead Blvd.  That's about as dark a
> site as we can get only 30 miles outside of Vegas.
>
> My wife is in the hospital following major surgery this morning, so I
> probably will not be able to make it to Redstone Saturday night.  Some other
> time I would have loved to take you out to observe.
>
> As for the critters, we've never had a problem being attacked by anything.
>
> If you're interested in helping with either of the EOP events, drop David
> Blanchette a line at David.Blanchette at lvastronomy.org.  Also check out our
> website at www.lvastronomy.org. It will have maps to the sites.
>
> Hope this helps somewhat.
>
> Rob Lambert
> President, LVAS
>
>
>
> Jonathan Kade wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> My wife and I are visiting from Detroit (she's in town for a
>> conference).  We brought along our 66mm achromat, a Voyager mount,
>> some eyepieces, her 15x70s, and our box of astrocards.  We're heavily
>> involved with the Warren Astronomical Society
>> (http://www.warrenastro.org) there and thought we'd get in touch with
>> club members here.  We've exclusively visual/non-goto observers
>> ourselves, but we're not religious about it.
>>
>> We did a little bit of observing last night at the Lake Mead
>> recreation area just past the dam (just checking out Mercury before it
>> set), but the light dome from Vegas was pretty impressive.
>>
>> We were a little bit apprehensive about desert critters.  How big a
>> problem are the mountain lions and javelinas?  Any other things one
>> might encounter in the desert we should be aware of?
>>
>> If anybody is interested in going out sometime this week (we're
>> leaving Sunday morning), we'd love to go.  Otherwise, any tips and
>> tricks are appreciated!
>>
>> Clear skies,
>>
>> Jonathan
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
>
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