by Carl Larson
There were about 7 of us. Rob W with his imaging gear. Brad from Chico on his summer tour :), Stacy, Vlad ? from Walnut Creek (great to meet you), Kevin S., James T. and myself. Gear ranged from Robs imaging set up to Brad's lawn chair for meteor gazing.
Temps were very comfortable though maybe cooler than you report. I was t-shirt and shorts until near midnight. It cooled more rapidly after. It was 59F when I left at 3:30am. I think Kevin reported the humidity in the early evening near 40. The two major light domes Gilroy and San Jose appeared to go through a couple grow and shrink cycles. Started off pretty good then seemed to deteriorate and then shrink back again. James noted this too. Don't know if that was due to dust, smoke and scuz in the air or what.
Not sure how to rate transparency since this was my first time at the site. I was hitting mag 12-13 galaxies with difficulty in my 9.25" newt. Kevin reported mid 13's with his 10" SCT.
Seeing was quite good. No wind. Kevin racked up to 280X on Neptune and it was quite stable. A very nice view.
So, I'd bet the viewing was comparable with the nod to Coe. But for overall experience Coyote wins hands down because we got to taste Stacy's meteor watching cuisine. Oh my goodness, it was, well, stellar:) Thanks Stacy!