by Richard Ozer
Against my better judgment, I packed up my gear and went out to Del Valle late Saturday afternoon. I was joined by Carter Scholz and Asher Blum. All three of us had dobs, and Carter and I were hoping to make further progress on our Herschel 400 lists.
The conditions were 50/50 when we got there. It looked clear to the south and miserable to the northwest.
By the time it got dark, conditions had taken a turn for the worst.
We estimated limiting magnitude at -1. Saturn showed evidence of rings, but only during brief and infrequent moments of steady seeing. M42 was high in the sky, with nebulosity apparent when using averted vision.
Hearing some rustling up the road, I put on my glasses (I can't see without the darn things anymore) and saw some lumpy dark objects on the road ahead of us. They seemed rather small and were making snorting noises. I honestly couldn't tell if they were pigs or people. I quickly learned that my depth perception is worthless in the dark. They weren't small; they were simply farther than I thought. Carter said, "They’re not pigs, they're cows."
True enough, cows indeed! Those of us who frequent Del Valle have seen evidence of these beasts. First one to use the site after winter usually brings a shovel along. This was the first time I had actually seen the culprits in action. Within a few moments, the three of us were walled in by an arc of about thirty head of cattle, each observing us while trying to determine what we were, what was in the tubes, and if we posed a threat.
Carter gently tried to explain to the cows that we weren't a direct threat at the moment; merely a general threat in the overall scheme of things. Most of the cows remained skeptical, however a few brave ones responded by enthusiastically licking Carter's car (he had driven on salted roads earlier in the week). I was thankful that I had not salted my telescope that night; an old trick I use to prevent dew from freezing on my OTA.
After about 40 minutes of that, we packed it in. I headed straight for the In ‘N Out Burger I had seen on the way over.... general threat indeed!
Posted on sf-bay-tac Apr 02, 2005 22:16:52 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Apr 05, 2005 20:40:34 PT