Willow Springs

by Peter Natscher

It was really cool to be able to make out far more galaxies in groups in one eyepiece field that would have been washed out and unnoticed from FP or Coe. I was noticing neighboring mag. 16 galactic patches in many views of my target objects without waiting for the eyes to work.

I observed 'til 3 am each night from the ridge area. I like the panoramic view from that spot. Friday nigh had a 5 mph steady breeze that didn't affect seeing. Saturday night was dead calm. That went well enough for me to get 4 hrs. sleep in my truck (from 3am 'til 7 am) and then drive back to Monterey for a shower and a few more hours of sleep.

From the ridge, I could see FP way off to the WNW and after dark, the light domes off Hollister, Gilroy, SJ all lined up in one dome to the NNW. Friday night's marine layer was so good, that the fog covered al the light domes by 1 am, and by 2 am, I was seeing the whitish fog extending south and filling the Rt. 25 valley south past Pinnacles. Of course, we were at 3,000 ft. and still very warm and dry. The paper of my drawings lying out on my table remained dry all night long. It's difficult to do sketches in dewy weather. Pencil lead on paper just doesn't work then. That can make sketching during the winter time difficult.

Peter Natscher
Monterey

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