[Lvas] Cathedral Gorge

Mon May 25 20:33:56 PDT 2009

Rob,

Despite not seeing a thing, we had a good time as we got to try out our new camper, so the weekend wasn't a total loss. Also, I got to see a very dark sky compared to around here. I think it would be a killer site if it were clear and wind free.

Also... you did good with the weather report. It was a gamble anyway. You just never know for sure, but fortunately (or unfortunately) the weathermen are getting better and better at forecasting. 

It sounds like you had a great time down at Joshua Tree. Those images capture closer to visual than regular photos do too. It is good to hear you were able to impress them with a few of your observations!

Thanks for the report and look forward to seeing you at the next meeting.

Fred

> Date: Mon, 25 May 2009 17:44:55 -0700
> From: scopegeek at gmail.com
> To: lvas at lvlug.org
> Subject: Re: [Lvas] Cathedral Gorge
> 
> Fred,
> 
> I'm sorry about this weekend. I tried to send out as accurate a weather 
> forecast as I could, without trying to sway members one way or the 
> other; just tried to let the members draw their own conclusions about 
> attending. I had to work into the evening on Friday and would have been 
> very late getting there, had I tried. I had touched base with the 
> Rangers during the day and posted their current conditions and the 
> updated forecast on the website. I also followed up with them on 
> Saturday with pretty much the same results. I just couldn't see driving 
> up there with no hope of being able to observe. Any other time I would 
> have been there with you.
> 
> I'm going to try to get the word out to our members through the website 
> about weather forecasts for our future events. Hopefully our members 
> will begin to check the website as they make their plans for attending 
> future events.
> 
> Because Friday and Saturday were a bust for observing, I drove down to 
> Joshua Tree National Park Sunday afternoon and joined up with the 
> Southern California Desert Video Astronomers for the last evening of 
> their four-day star party at Joshua Tree Lake Campground. Although it 
> wasn't your cup of tea, Fred, I enjoyed watching and participating in 
> their orchestration of a video star party. They had five large screen 
> projectors with switchers and audio to display the images being pulled 
> down by 8 video (Mallicam) observers. They had an experienced 
> astronomical narrator that described each object as they were displayed 
> on the screen. Friday and Saturday nights they had over 200 visitors. 
> Last night it was down to about 50. I primarily used my Orion ST120 to 
> provide wide-field views of the Leo Triplet, the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, 
> M13 with propeller, and other objects (See attached single frame images).
> 
> Leo Triplet - Captured early in the evening - skies were still a little 
> bright
> M81 and M82 - even the Mallincamers were impressed with this wide-field 
> - most of them had larger scopes with much narrower fields of view
> Virgo Cluster - Counted 10 galaxies in this image - same here - the old 
> Mallincamers had never seen this many galaxies in the same field of view
> Veil Nebula - NGC 6960 - The upper half, I believe
> Veil Nebula - NGC 6995 - The lower half
> My M13 image didn't come out as well as I would have liked - on the 
> monitor I could clearly see the propeller, but my captured image was 
> washed out - I'll need to turn down the brightness a bit to get the 
> propeller to come through like I saw it on the monitor.
> 
> After the public star party was over, I used the rest of the night to 
> observe and capture our Observer's Challenge Objects for April, May, and 
> June. I wasn't able to get the Virgo Diamond. By the time the public 
> star party was over, the Diamond had already set. I've got to figure 
> out how to get my LX200 to help me locate the Diamond using RA and Dec. 
> I'll try to get it while I'm in Alabama on vacation next week or maybe 
> at Kaibab Lodge later in the month.
> 
> Anyway, Fred. I'm sorry you were about the only one there. The 
> elements just combined against us this weekend.
> 
> Take care.
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> Fred Rayworth wrote:
> > All,
> > 
> > Well, I finally showed up to an out of town star party and I was 
> > almost the only one there, and certainly the only one with a scope!
> > 
> > Though I was a bit disappointed to see no other brave souls willing to 
> > drive 161 miles or so, we had a good weekend and got to test our new 
> > folding travel trailer. When we got there late Friday, we got rained 
> > on. We made a round of the park and there were no empty spaces. 
> > However, we forgot to fill the water tank and had to go back down to 
> > the water station and fill up. By the time we got back, there were two 
> > emtpy spaces and we pulled in. Then I discovered another water faucet 
> > right across from our space!
> > 
> > Friday night, never saw a star. I heard it cleared up a bit after 
> > midnight, but I was asleep by then and disgusted.
> > 
> > Saturday was stormy all day. Walked around the park and saw the 
> > sights. We went into Panaca just to say we did. We got back and in the 
> > late afternoon, the storms hit and it rained pretty hard for a couple 
> > of hours. Plugged in my generator to recharge the battery and 
> > something shorted out because of the water, and the battery only 
> > charged intermittently. Finally gave that up and waited for the rain 
> > to stop. Started a campfire and sat by it until about 10. As we were 
> > dousing it, I looked up and saw the big dipper. By then, I was in no 
> > mood to set the scope up in sandy mud, so we just went to bed. Woke up 
> > this morning and the sky was clear as a bell.
> > 
> > So, that's my first official club out-of-town star party.
> > 
> > Fred
> > 
> >
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