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

[Jonathan Kade]

Hello,

Thanks to everyone so far!  I do have sort of a silly idea, but maybe
it's doable.  Omega Centauri only seems to get about 6 degrees off the
horizon - is it possible to catch it?  Obviously it won't be at its
best, but even a glimpse would be really valuable.

Rob,

> 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.

We may be driving out east Friday afternoon to try to get a glimpse of
the Grand Canyon Saturday, but we do have to be at the airport around
9 AM Sunday, so Saturday night sounds ideal.  The sun sets about 6:45
PM, if I recall correctly.  Would showing up at 7 be acceptable?

>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.

I hope your wife's surgery went well and her convalescence is short
and uneventful.

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:48 PM, David Blanchette <Yahoo at awit.com> wrote:
> I'll just jump in here with a couple of notes in RED...
>
> I think we're good for Camp Foxtail.  I also assume you came to the DESERT
> (85 degrees) and not the mountains (35 degrees last night), so you can skip
> the camp.  If you're up for an evening of showing the sky to a bunch of
> scouts, we could use the help Friday.

Well, when we left Detroit, I think the outside daytime temperature
was about 35 deg F...  We brought warm clothes, but I'm not sure we
brought enough to last long.  I'd really like to help out with the
scout program (we work a great deal with the scouts back home), though
we may be in transit that night.  I'll let you know if we can make it.

> Rob's fingers got away from his brain; the Redstone picnic area is north of
> Lake Mead, not Lake Mead Blvd.  It is a good site.  The weather is looking
> iffy, but I still want to go out.  I'll probably post notice for going out
> there, on Thursday, see if there are any takers.

Is that picnic area officially open to the public every night?  Do you
think Diane and I might be able to head out there tonight?

> The bottom line of observing around Vegas is that, because of the (usually)
> low humidity, the light doesn't scatter much.  So if you go an hour in any
> direction (40 miles or so) and turn off the highway, three-quarters of the
> sky (any direction away from Vegas) will be nice for viewing.
>
> Two other reminders: TAKE A JACKET with you.  The desert cools rapidly, and
> you can suddenly find yourself shivering.  TAKE SOME WATER with you.  5%
> humidity will dry you out.

Thank you, sir.  We are always cognizant of the first, but might have
gotten careless on the second.

> In 5 years of going into the desert, I've not encountered anything.
> However, the weather is trying to warm up.  Once it does, you can have
> snakes in the early evening, but they should hide away as the evening
> cools.  Coyotes make noise off in the distance.  I don't know of any
> particular cats around Las Vegas.  To my knowledge (and experience, so far),
> anything out there that is dangerous will usually run away from you faster
> than you can run away from it.

Fair enough.  I'm used to coyotes, and really rather like having them around.

Do you ever have problem visitors of the two-legged kind?  I've found
that about 95-97% of people are interested and respectful of a
telescope set up anywhere, but the remaining percentage can be
worrying at times.

Thanks again for the assistance!

Jonathan