Well, just returned from Aruba...been up since 1.30AM pacific time but still wired from the trip home. Imagine my surprise when I logged on and there were about 300 emails from TACo's during the time I was gone! Very cool. Didn't get to read them all...will catch up with the archives over the next couple of days.
Briefly, Aruba skies were grand - not perfect as one might expect but a good deal better than I anticipated when I landed on Saturday night. I was sitting on the aisle but was able to look through the plane's window as we were landing. Shocking but true, 75% of the island (which is 19 miles by 5 miles) was lit up like a Christmas tree! My stomach sank...how could I possibly do stargazing with all that light??! Well it turns out that even though it looked like a utilities owner's dream, it wasn't too bad.
I had emailed the hotel about a month ago inquiring into any astronomy clubs and/or astronomy programs that the hotel's website talked about. The director of recreation, Chris O'Connell emailed me back explaining that they had a new Nexstar 8 for the hotel. She also left me a message upon check-in to call her about doing some stargazing. Through phone tag, we eventually hooked up...she even picked me up from the hotel last night to take me out to her and her husband's house near the Aruban National Park to do stargazing. My, my, my... what a difference. It was amazing to see M42 naked eye...really naked eye. So naked was it that I thought the vice squad was going to show up any minute!
I was disappointed though when I learned from my new found astro friends, Chris and her husband Rob, that The Southern Cross and Centaurus wouldn't be coming into view until about April/May on the southern horizon!!!!! I had spent most of my flight time to Aruba making out my observing list with particular attention to the major sites such as the Crux and Centaurus. Oh well, what to do...just sit out and gaze at a beautiful night time sky during January. Temp last night was about 79 degrees F...a first for me to observe in shorts and a tank top at the end of January.
Canis Major was stunning and M41 was an easy target. Even though I had brought my ST80mm "Delta Flyer", due to a lost of baggage with my tripod in it, I didn't get to use the Delta Flyer except for one night (Monday night near one of the numerous hotel pools - reason being it was one of the "darkest" sites I could find in the resort complex. Didn't want to risk taking it out to the beach away from the hotal/resort lights). Most of the time I was there, I used the 7x50 binoculars which in retrospect, were just perfect. I also decided against taking the Delta Flyer out to Chris and Rob's place due to the fact that since I had to be up at 5.30 AM aruba time coupled with the fact that our managers had us going from early morning and through out the day, the thought of packing everything at the last minute was not pleasant at all.
However, I did manage to do an impromptue star party after our awards dinner on monday night with the Delta Flyer...our group president was tres impressed and we talked about the telescope his wife got him for Christmas and how he couldn't see a thing through it...department store stuff. Will be sending him an email with links to the various different telescope companies that make reasonably priced but good telescopes. My co-workers were quite surprised at the view of M42, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon and Sirius. This was about as much as they could handle due to a lot of them wanting to go out to hit the casinos (very prevalant) and dance clubs.
The island is a desert island with constant winds and tropical cloud patterns during the day and night. Thus, a sturdy tripod is recommended. We weren't able to use the hotel's Nexstar 8 as it has to remain on hotel property and since there were guests in the penthouse, we weren't able to bring it up to the roof. Chris told me that due to the lighting around the resort, it is hard to discern the night sky with it gathering so much light. I suggested that she propose getting a refractor to compliment the Nexstar and to see if hotel management wouldn't think about providing a spot on the other building's roof for stargazing. She is going to try and get that proposal though.
So dear friends, while it wasn't what I was expecting, it did turn out to be a decent way to pass my free time. I had hoped to bring you all back a glowing report of all the nifty southern hemisphere objects that I was planning on observing. My list which got depth charged included:
I did cruise around Puppis with the binos and this is a very interesting constellation with NGC 2451, NGC 2477, NGC 2546, c Puppis and M93. These were nice objects to look at and it was at this point I did regret not taking the delta flyer. I've got to come up with a very cool and convenient system for the Delta Flyer when I travel. (I had the optics in a bag that I did not check in but it was cumbersome - thought it was going to do well in theory but in practice it was totally wacked out.
Don't let my report of lights and winds dissuade you from bringing your observing toys should you happen upon Aruba. If it had been a 100% pleasure trip, my packing and planning would have been quite different. Also, Chris and Rob, while still "newbies" according to them in this hobby, as very good resources down Aruba way. In fact, because they live in a very dark part of the island and they have some land and a hill up against the national park, they are planning on building a dedicated site up top the main hill for observing purposes.
Well, the jet lag is hitting hard now, and I can barely keep my eyes open - off to bed so I can go to work and see what awaits me there in the morning.
Clear Skies to all,
Stacy "Glad to be home in the USA with all my luggage" McDermott