ARCHIVE · Login   · Main Index   · Search Speciality Forums >> Astro Outreach, Clubs and Star Parties Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: << 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | >> (show all) snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: Skylook123]       #933893 - 04/29/06 02:39 PM Attachment (61 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Last night was the best one for this year's TSP. It started out windy, but the wind died and skies were good all night. The Milky Way was super bright in the morning. We each did our own thing observing last night. Faith and Steph abandoned Alvin's little 30" for Larry Mitchell's 36" scope, proving once again that for some women, size matters While Steph and I are novice observers, Faith and Alvin are published top-rank observers. Alvin has written two advanced observing guides to the Hickson galaxy groups and Abell planetaries for owners of 15" and larger scopes, and he's working on another guide for the Arp irregular galaxies. Faith has written one on deep sky observing techniques. They hobnob with the likes of Barbara Wilson, Larry Mitchell, and Stephen James O'Meara. That crowd's idea of fun is to challenge each other to find which of them can see more detail in Hickson 40 or Arp 341. Alvin can go toe-to-toe with Barbara Wilson. et al, on seeing details in those faint Hicksons and Abells. Last night, Alvin took on Larry Mitchell's advanced observer program (Arp galaxies) from TSP2005 - using Steph's 4" scope! He got 25 of them to earn his observing pin. Last year, I earned my beginning binocular and beginning telescope pins. Last year's weather was so poor, John Wagoner (he hands out the observing pins) or the relevant committee decided to reuse the same list this year, so I just chose to continue my starhopping through the Messier objects. I led three birdwatching walks - two scheduled ones and one after Wednesday's cloud-out - so last night was my first chance at an all-nighter. Alas, I bought a remote hand controller for my ServoCat from Gary Myers. About 3:00 a.m., my scope went into a runaway, and torqued the mirror box out of the rocker box. By the time I got the scope re-assembled, I was too tired and upset to continue observing. There are other social networks at TSP, of course. Here's our Nightsky owners' group of four. I have an 18", Richard's 18" is in the background, Shannon has a 14.5", and Jason has a 16". Steph has started to call me Floyd, after Floyd the skunk, who hangs around the snack bar at night. I'm beginning to think she doesn't like me any more. First she calls me a liar, and then she says I'm mean. Now I'm a skunk. What did I do to deserve this harrassment? -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Edited by snorkler (05/02/06 01:39 PM) Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #933898 - 04/29/06 02:43 PM Attachment (53 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   We've been able to see the Zodiacal light at sunset. Skies measure 21.8 on Dennis' Sky Quality Meter. It doesn't get much better than that when you're only a mile above sea level the Prude Ranch is about 5100' elevation). First photo is the Milky Way around Sagittarius. I didn't bring a tracking mount, so these are 3 minute exposures at 28 mm. using a tripod. I took the photos about 2:00 a.m., so all the color comes from the Milky Way itself. Second is the Milky Way around Cygnus. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #933919 - 04/29/06 03:02 PM Attachment (52 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The Prude Ranch has a long history. A corporation bought it about 7 years ago and went bankrupt last year. This year a cruise line company bought it. But the Prudes still live there, and keep a bit of west Texas history alive in the Davis Mts. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #933926 - 04/29/06 03:08 PM Attachment (49 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Nearby Fort Davis housed camels in a desert warfare experiment prior to the Civil War. The other monuments to the US Army's camel experiment are the Camel Barn Museum in Benicia, California and the Hi Jolly monument in Quartzsite, Arizona. Hadj Ali (Hi Jolly) was a camel driver who retired in Quartzsite. Additional car photos at the Prude Ranch. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #933932 - 04/29/06 03:13 PM Attachment (49 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Photos show Prude Ranch Office and registration area inside. You register twice - once for the Prude Ranch facilities, and once for TSP. The signs pointing to Registration in the outside photo are for TSP registration, around the corner in the same building. One of the trees rooted inside the building is still alive, The other one has died. Edited to eliminate duplicate photo of dining area. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #933980 - 04/29/06 03:42 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Steph was going to post on this, but she's probably angry at me again I won a door prize last night, a copy of Robert Reeves' Introduction to Digital Astrophotography. Another neat thing about being at TSP is meeting the famous names in our hobby. Mr. Reeves autographed my copy of his book, as did Stephen Jay O'Meara (for his Guide to the Messier Objects), and Glen Sanner and George Kepple (Night Sky Observers Guide). Gary Myers from StellarCat was walking the observing fields looking for ServoCat installations (I think he said he saw 47 of them here). On years when there's no scheduling conflict with other star parties (NEAF? or Stellafane? this year?), Al Nagler is often here. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       ~Steph~ Texas Wildflower Reged: 06/11/05 Posts: 26279 Loc: North Texas Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #934003 - 04/29/06 03:57 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Once again, I must defend myself and call Darrell a liar. I didn't once use Larry Mitchell's 36", I've never met the man or seen his scope except from a distance. In fact, I mostly used binoculars last night, I decided spur-of-the-moment to go after an observing pin and so hunted down 47 of 50 (only 25 are needed) of the listed bino objects and picked up my pin this afternoon. I also did some general observing of various eye candy objects with the RCX while Alvin was using the 4" to do his Arp thing. He and I stuck it out until about 6:15 when dawn was beginning to show, well after we'd both finished our goals. The sky was magnificent, and though the wind was a bit cruel and chilly, it was a fabulous night overall. It looks to be a bit less windy tonight and just as clear so hopefully it will be another pleasant evening, a nice capper to a positively super week. The RCX will get packed up this afternoon, and Darrell and Alvin will both pack up their big dobs. Many other folks are packing up their big scopes as well. Weather forecast is good, but with checkout being early tomorrow, it seems easier to get heavy packing done today and just play with smaller scopes and binos tonight. And I haven't once called Darrell "Floyd" although I may have to start doing so after all these lies about me... Oh yeah, he did win a door prize last night at the giveaway, not that he deserves it... With checkout being early and everyone hitting the road, if I were y'all I wouldn't expect much in the way of reports again until people starting getting home either late tomorrow or more likely on Monday...I doubt I'll be online again until late tomorrow night or sometime Monday morning myself. So just in case, this is your intrepid novice star party attendee Steph possibly signing off for the last time from Prude Ranch and TSP 2006.... -------------------- Steph Taking it one day at a time... I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness 10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST Serenity Observatory Post Extras:       Alvin Huey Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/18/05 Posts: 2655 Loc: NorCal Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #934006 - 04/29/06 03:59 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Abandoning the 30"! Yeah, the 30" was a little lonely out there. But the crowd around the Mitchell 36" are top notch and Faith had a blast there. She was sketching Herbig Haro objects in Pelican Nebula with Larry's 36". Barbara Wilson tracked me down to her and Larry's area to track down Abell 28. It was pretty low by the time we looked for it. With a 40mm w/UHC in Larry's 36" f/5 Obsession, I saw an extremely faint crescent shaped nebulosity arcing about about a third around. Larry saw the same thing plus a little more nebulosity around the central region. This one requires a lot of time at the eyepiece to dig out more. Each spent only 5-15 minutes each. Stephen O'Meara, Barbara Wilson, Ben Jones, Larry Mitchell, Bill Christianson, Faith Jordan, etc were there attempting Abell 28. Great bunch of folks. Faith stayed there for the rest of the night and I went back to the 4" to finish off my program. Stehp was busy running through the binocular list and got her pin. Nice achievement. I observed 26 Arp's (last year's program) to earn my pin (yet to get it as I still need to track Larry down). The best thing is that I used Steph's 4" TV 102 without a finder. It was a little tougher without it, but I somehow managed. We're tearing down as soon as I send this post. We'll have a short night and taking off tomorrow morning. -------------------- Clear Skies, Alvin #26 22" f/4.0 reflector and other assorted smaller and larger telescopes, but listing the one I use the most. FaintFuzzies | TAC | TAC-Sac Post Extras:       Alvin Huey Carpal Tunnel Reged: 10/18/05 Posts: 2655 Loc: NorCal Re: Joys of TSP [Re: ~Steph~]       #934010 - 04/29/06 04:03 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Darrell must have mistaken, she indeed did not scurry to Mitchell's 36". Steph does not think bigger is better all the time. Quality is what counts as what I see in her choice of equipment. Sorry, I have to defend Steph this time. -------------------- Clear Skies, Alvin #26 22" f/4.0 reflector and other assorted smaller and larger telescopes, but listing the one I use the most. FaintFuzzies | TAC | TAC-Sac Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: ~Steph~]       #934041 - 04/29/06 04:27 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Apologies, Steph. I was only passing on what Alvin told me. So I'm a spreader of Alvin's misinformation. He must be a candidate for Scott McClellan's position He told me last night that you and Faith had gone to Larry Mitchell's 36" scope. Half the folks have packed up already. See you all at next year's TSP. A great time was had by all. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Post Extras:       ~Steph~ Texas Wildflower Reged: 06/11/05 Posts: 26279 Loc: North Texas Re: Joys of TSP [Re: snorkler]       #934297 - 04/29/06 09:02 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Ooooooh, nearly forgot, David (bicparker) also won a door prize last night, though I'm not sure exactly what -- was that one of those ScopeStuff packages, David? The red flashlight, etc. etc.? He'll have to fill us in. Len, an infrequent CN member, also won a door prize, a 50mm (?) Opt eyepiece. I'm about to head up to the meeting room for tonight's giveaway and grand prize drawing, hopefully another CNer or I will get lucky and win a prize tonight! Then on to tonight's viewing, and hitting the road in the morning. Final wrap-ups and reports to come probably Monday or later. Bye y'all! -------------------- Steph Taking it one day at a time... I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness 10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST Serenity Observatory Post Extras:       square_peg Postmaster Reged: 03/26/04 Posts: 36712 Loc: Maple Valley, WA Re: Joys of TSP [Re: ~Steph~]       #935291 - 04/30/06 06:48 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Y'all drive safely. We need you to make it home and write the final chapters of this amazing saga. -------------------- Tom (Pegster) DSH-8 (GSO Dob) 15x70 Oberwerks ED80/SVP WO 66P Sears Discoverer EQ 60/900 8x42 Regals History is Philosophy teaching by examples. Thucydides Post Extras:       Skylook123 Postmaster Reged: 04/30/05 Posts: 7171 Loc: Tucson, AZ Re: Joys of TSP [Re: square_peg]       #935316 - 04/30/06 07:13 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hollywood should jump on this one! Any screenwriters out there? -------------------- Jim South Rim Coordinator Grand Canyon Star Party gcsp[at]tucsonastronomy.org “Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science” - Edwin Hubble Post Extras:       Joad Wordsmith Reged: 03/22/05 Posts: 18002 Re: Joys of TSP [Re: Skylook123]       #935411 - 04/30/06 08:26 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Stephen King should do the part about that Dust Deviltry! Post Extras:       Skylook123 Postmaster Reged: 04/30/05 Posts: 7171 Loc: Tucson, AZ Re: Joys of TSP [Re: Joad]       #935452 - 04/30/06 08:49 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes...Everyone's having a soda, sitting around in the collegial environment, and the churning devil flits back and forth past windows and doors visible in the background. Light hearted chatter, foreboding music. And after one unfortunate 17.5" hero sacrifices itself to draw Dusty into the trap, the CN crew surrounds it and arm wrestles it to the ground. Yeah. That'll work. -------------------- Jim South Rim Coordinator Grand Canyon Star Party gcsp[at]tucsonastronomy.org “Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science” - Edwin Hubble Post Extras:       ~Steph~ Texas Wildflower Reged: 06/11/05 Posts: 26279 Loc: North Texas Re: Joys of TSP [Re: Skylook123]       #935563 - 04/30/06 10:14 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Steph's home. Steph's tired. Steph will do her TSP wrap-up tomorrow...or sometime. But she made it home. I like the story line, Jim! Oh and Faith won a door prize on Saturday night, the best kind of all -- CASH! (well, a check that she swapped out with someone for cash so she didn't have to deal with banks, etc.) I think her, Darrell, David and Len are the only CNers to win anything, if I missed someone, let us know! And I didn't realize until Friday night that our own Mike - the Unknown Astronomer - is actually quite well known -- he's one of the co-emcees for the giveaways both nights and did an excellent job! -------------------- Steph Taking it one day at a time... I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness 10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST Serenity Observatory Post Extras:       John Fitzgerald In Focus Reged: 01/04/04 Posts: 2709 Loc: AR Re: Joys of TSP [Re: Skylook123]       #935567 - 04/30/06 10:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I had a generally good five days at TSP (Sunday night through Thursday night) Four out of the five nights were clear. It got a little windy and dusty on Thursday afternoon, so we tore down our screen house and put the Dob in the van. We had to leave on Friday morning, so we just used binos Thursday night. We ran into rain on the east side of Abilene and drove the remaining 500 miles or so in rain and storms. We came through Gainsville, TX not very long before the tornado went through. Made it home early Saturday just after midnight. I really enjoyed meeting other CN'ers during the week. It's raining AGAIN now. Post Extras:       ~Steph~ Texas Wildflower Reged: 06/11/05 Posts: 26279 Loc: North Texas Re: Joys of TSP [Re: John Fitzgerald]       #935587 - 04/30/06 10:31 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Wow, John, what a mess to drive home through! I'm glad y'all made it safely. I was looking for you guys Friday night, I didn't realize y'all had to leave early (and thought of you again as I drove through Midland this afternoon... ). It was great to meet you and your wife, I'm glad you could both make it! -------------------- Steph Taking it one day at a time... I'm in the fight! - Support Liver Disease Awareness 10" RCX400 ~~ 4" TV102 ~~ WO ZS80FD ~~ PST Serenity Observatory Post Extras:       John Fitzgerald In Focus Reged: 01/04/04 Posts: 2709 Loc: AR Re: Joys of TSP [Re: ~Steph~]       #935644 - 04/30/06 11:46 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   We pulled out the gate at exactly 10:00 AM Friday. I'm glad you had two more good nights. Too bad about the 17.5" Dob. Was the owner trying to sell it at TSP? Must have been a 60 MPH dust devil to do that. Are you planning to go to Okie-Tex in Sept.? Post Extras:       snorkler Aperture Aficionado Reged: 10/11/04 Posts: 10041 Loc: Bay Area, California Re: Joys of TSP [Re: John Fitzgerald]       #935755 - 05/01/06 02:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Tres Amigos are in Boulder City, NV outside of Las Vegas tonight. I'm staying here the next three nights to attend a friend's wedding. Alvin and Dennis will unload our stuff and return the rental van. We each had a wealth of wonderful experiences at TSP 2006. Attendance was down from last year, with only 501 attendees. It always goes down after a bad weather year like 2005. It always goes up after a good weather year like this year. Saturday night wasn't much of a viewing night. We'd all packed our larger scopes, and quit at midnight to have breakfast at the Fort Davis Drugstore this morning before starting our return journey. Steph and Alvin viewed with Steph's refractors. I had my birding spotting scope out. Dennis and Len Philpot viewed through Len's 8" Dob. I mooched some views through Len's scope and Paul and Kay's 10" LX200. Valerie Clark (wife of TSP co-founder David Clark) joined us with a pair of 14X100 binoculars. We had a close call tonight when some idiot made a left turn from the lane to our right, in front of us, into a motel driveway. Alvin jammed on the brakes and sent everything flying forward several inches. We heard metal and glass hitting, but haven't unpacked to see what, if anything, was damaged. -------------------- I'm not the lowest of the low, but I am the slowest of the slow. '06 Scion xB. 49.6 mpg avg over 38,000 miles. 177% of '08 EPA Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg Edited by snorkler (05/01/06 02:49 AM) Post Extras:       Pages: << 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | >> (show all) Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 0 registered and 1 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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