Just got back from CalStar

by Greg LaFlamme

Yes, its true, I stayed only one night at CalStar. It was a great night though! I was tucked in between Paul Alsing, Debbie and Michelle Stone (this is primo company) I had a super time and even got to use a page of Paul's DSS library to locate a couple objects. He was so helpful and I'm glad I got to spend some time there with he and Debbie. Neat folks! C39 in triangulm became my first extra galactic glob!! Paul was very helpful and informative not to mention super cool. Everything I pointed a scope at looked fantastic, M42 @250x in a 25" dob is a site to behold:-) Michelle is always a blast and the most optimistic person I know. She was having allot of fun with her new 80mm apo, turned out to be a great little scope! I bought a Vixen mount from her and even did some imaging. My M42 captures are really cool and I am tickled at how well they look on my computer. I am also very surprised how easy imaging is. Yes, that was a joke;-) I was a social butterfly during the day and made the rounds. Bunch of great people there for sure.

When it comes to dark skys, seems to me like anything over 21:20 or so is plenty dark and CalStar has great skys and awesome horizons to boot. I loved it there, however sqm was 21.44 by my meter and 21.37 by Albert's. That places CalStar in the green, not the grey. As I've been finding out, the Google earth light pollution overlay is complete phooey and needs to be updated. Having said that, it was dark, steady and we were all oooing and awing (spelling?) The MW was sugary! It fell below freezing but I had no idea, I was dressed nice and warm and I was very comfy. I was only scheduled at CalStar Weds-Fri and in an effort to try to beat the forecasted rain so I wouldn't have to pack up a muddy tent, I drove home last night. Left camp at 7:00 and was home on the couch at 9:45:-) I may have made a mistake bailing so early but one great night at CalStar was worth the effort.

GML

Observing Reports Observing Sites GSSP 2010, July 10 - 14
Frosty Acres Ranch
Adin, CA

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