Coyote Sat 24-Jul-2004

by Matthew Marcus

I decided to put up with a few hours of moonlight in order to get another photon fix. I arrived not long before sundown and found nobody else there except boaters. One of these drove by with his two jet-skis, stopped and said "wanna trade"? Seems he had some trouble with his equipment. Anyway, I showed him the moon and Jupiter, neither of which he'd ever seen through a scope. He was totally wowed. I told him about our public star party two weeks ago and suggested he come to the next one, which I gather is in two weeks. He asked me to confirm the date and tell him. If anyone who actually knows the date wants to do that, his business card describes him as "Rad Ray" at radray swirlysymbol hotcity period com (how's that for address cloaking?).

Anyway, while waiting for that Big Bright Thing to set, I went through the double-star tour in the July issue of one of the magazines. Got 'em all except Antares (seeing not good enough) and one in Lupus, which was down behind trees. I also did some eye candy in the form of M13, M15 and M27. Not M40, after all those doubles :-)

Just about when the moon went behind the hills, a ranger showed up, shining his bright lights around until he saw me, at which point he doused them and apologized. They're really astro-friendly there. I feel sort of guilty about getting in for free, since I do use the facilities just like any day person.

About then, the fog started pouring over the hills to the E. I had a feeling it was going to be one of those nights, since it was very humid. I know from past experience that clouds can come in from the E and stick around, leaving only occasional sucker holes, and that the fog could come up and put the damper on everything. Therefore, I abandoned the site with about 1/3 of the sky still sort of clear. Driving home, it actually got worse, contrary to the usual case of a scope sacrifice causing clearing. I hate to say it, but this time the CSC just got it completely wrong. Oh, well.

Net result - a very relaxing few hours under the sky and lots of double stars seen. Not too bad a way to spend a Saturday night if you feel like 'mellow'.

Posted on sf-bay-tac Jul 25, 2004 01:52:09 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 04, 2005 22:43:55 PT