Salmon Falls tonight

by Bill Chandler

Thanks for coming up, Ray. Yes, it as a 'good' night. Glad you had a great experience and the chance to catch up on those M objects for the upcoming marathon. The 2 highlights of the night were M42/43 (Which is ALWAYS a winner) and during our hunt for M81/82 our confusion with NGC 2976. We spotted this galaxy first and thought it was M81, it wasn't until after searching around for M82 (which should've been nearby) that we discovered we had the wrong object. Who would've thought a 6" reflector could mistake that galaxy for M81? (ha ha, what fun). Just shows how clear it was. :-)

Yes, Many thanks to Peter for his excellent tutelage and assistance and Bill Porte for the use of his nice EP's (thanks for bringing those up).

As for the the site, I'll confess that if you're a 'dark sky only' observer (meaning no light intrusion allowed at any level), then you probably won't like this location. However, it is close, it's free and the horizons are excellent (as you stated). To cut down on those 'distant' light sources (coming from Placerville and Folsom) I'll work quickly on erecting that 'curtain' which will block them while maintaining the horizons. It should really help.

As per Jim's request, I took some digital photos just after sunset. They are a bit dark so I'll run them through PaintShop Pro to brighten them up a bit. I hope to have them posted soon so everyone can see how the location looks. Even so, the 'best' way to judge this location is to 'just stop by and see'. :-)

PS. Ray advised me that Mr. John Dob himself is the guest speaker at the upcoming SVAS club meeting next Saturday (21st). Yes, it's a New Moon weekend, but just in case the weather is bad, This would be a great backup activity (even if you have issues with the Club, as I do). It would be super to hear John speak. :-)

Posted on tac-sac Sat Feb 14 20:23:51 2004 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.0 Mon Feb 16 17:39:40 2004 PT