by Marek Cichanski
Even though it's getting pretty moony, I'm going to head up to MB again tonight, in hopes of having another Black Cloud Night.
Last night started out pretty good at MB, albeit a little bright from the moon. I mostly worked on double stars with my 6" mak.
It started to get pretty dark after about midnight or so. Maybe people commented on it; I'm not sure, as I was plugged into my iPod most of the time. I was the last to leave at 2 am (the latest we can stay, by the rules of the permit), and on the way down the hill, I could see that it was that most precious of all things...
A Black Cloud Night.
This is really the same thing as what happens at the Peak, when the fog covers up Monterey, SJB, Hollister, etc... It's fairly rare at MB, it takes a well-defined, but shallow, marine layer. We had it last night. On the way down the hill, Silicon Valley was GONE. I couldn't see the east shore of the bay, either. I don't know how much of the East Bay was covered up, but I'd venture to say most of it. From MB, the Milky Way was bright and distinct all the way through Cepheus and well into Cassiopea, by the time I left. I actually had to use my fog lamps at times on the way down Page Mill. Life is good!
I think the moon sets around 11:30 tonight, so we're really only talking about a couple-hour window of real darkness, assuming that the weather repeats itself - which is a big if. But if that sounds appealing, come on up. Rangers have been called. ETA 20:00.
Posted on sf-bay-tac Jul 22, 2004 15:04:28 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 03, 2005 19:49:13 PT