Sat 12-07-02; Coe

by William G. Schultz

With great trepidation I headed up to Coe. The conditions from several weather websites said I had a decent chance of being clouded out. The ride up showed cirrus over the western portion of the valley and it looked as though it was headed East.

Upon arrival, the gate was open and one car was already set up. Clouds were to the North, South and West, but my target area looked as though it might stay clear. I set up wondering how long my luck would hold out.

Notwithstanding, conditions were surprisingly good. There was a steady breeze from the Northeast, and the air was cool and dry 48 degrees and 42% RH. The moon had just set. Limiting mag was better than 6. The low level valley schmutz was suppressing the glow from San Jose. Seeing supported >300X. I was able to tweak collimation on Saturn and got some very decent views with my C-11 while waiting for my target areas in Lynx, Hydra and Ursa Major to ascend.

My target areas clouded over once at 01:00 giving me time to have an extended cup of tea, and a second time at about 03:15, when I broke down and headed for home.

The evening was successful and enjoyable. I managed to log and sketch another dozen H400-2 objects. Currently, I have half the listing completed, and I hope to finish this challenge sometime this Summer.

I'm glad I took the chance.