by Shneor Sherman
I have always, it seems, experienced poor seeing this time of year in Northern California, and I was determined not to let the season pass me by this year. The Saguaro Astronomy Club (hope I have the name right, SAC is what they are) has an annual star party in March st Sentinel, Arizona, at about 32 degrees north latitude, 30 miles west of Gila Bend. I drove down Thursday night, arrived in Gila Bend around 5:30 a.m. (10.5 hours driving), slept at a motel for a few hours, then went on to Sentinel.
Transparency varied from 5-8/10, seeing 8-10/10. The sky did not disappoint though transparency could have been better, especially Friday night. Seeing, however was excellent on both nights, allowing sharp views up to 876x at times.
I had an excellent view of comet Ikeya-Zhang Saturday night in my 18", as it filled the field of my 30mm Widescan II+Paracorr. This is a beautiful, classic comet with a small nucleus not quite in the center of the coma, with a long tail that is bifurcated halfway down (or up actually). The southern constellations were noticeably higher in the sky, and I viewed until about 3:30 a.m. each night. I spent quite a bit of time in Virgo and Coma Berenices, as well as southern constellations. I had an excellent view of Omega Centauri through another observer's 20" dob, with many stars resolved.
I also met quite a few fellow observers from the area (SAC is from Phoenix) as well as a contingent from San Diego and another from Tucson. My son, who lives in Tucson, joined me Saturday night for a few hours.
The drive back Sunday took about 12 hours.
The expedition was well worth it. This weekend I'm headed to Temple Bar, Arizona (near Las Vegas) for more observing at the Los Vegas Messier Marathon (I won't marathon myself), as I need to be in Las Vegas for a wedding Sunday afternoon. I don't plan to go anywhere the next couple of weekends, though...
My 18" wwas the second largest there, and by far the largest with tracking. Detailed views of many objects, spectacular views of comet, planets, nebulae and galaxies. Definitely worth the drive, 10.5 hours there, 12 back (avoiding LA traffic). Got compliments on my telescope. Also, a bit of info on excellent summer spots.
Hope Death Valley was as good.