2006 CalStar

by Jane Smith

Skies were disappointing. Ya win some, ya lose some. I'm told the best skies were to be had on Wednesday night. I arrived Thursday. Thursday's skies were tolerable although seeing was soft. Friday skies were the pits, washed out and gray, caused no doubt by a bunch of moisture coming into the area. People awake in the wee hours said fog hit in early morning. For my eyes, the best skies were from 9pm to 1am on Saturday, however even those were a far cry from typical CalStar skies. And it was just my luck I was setup on the west side of the field where headlights bombarded us for most of that 4 hour stretch. At 1am the skies turned to mush and people retired to their beds or scotch bottles, or both.

Temperatures generally hoovered in the mid to high 80's with breezes freshening in the afternoon. Nighttime temps dipped to 39-42 degrees. A nasty dust devil came through Friday and picked up a couple of canopies, both blue. One cut a swath through the east side of the observing field, knocking over one scope and making windmills out of several others. Fortunatelty none of the scopes sustained any damage. Then one airborne canopy continued over the tops of two vehicles and ended up in the bushes after it almost wiped-out Rashad who was walking back to his camp. No doubt this near-death experience will develop into yet another of Rashad's great stories. You've heard his famous "Moose Story", haven't you? It makes grown men double over and pee their pants from sheer laughter.

Despite the less than ideal skies and breezy weather, not all was lost. The best part of 2006 CalStar was the social scene..... lots of good food, great friends, and drinking n' being merry. Many thanks to Chef Dan for his divine morning cuisine.

The showers were also fantastic, although I'm told they ran out of hot water on Saturday afternoon. Susan Wicks said it was like showering with lake water. Burrrrrrr. Apparently the hot water returned by Sunday morning when the grand exodus of hung-over astronomers stopped to shower before heading home.

All in all... a great star party with yucky skies.

Jane

Observing Reports Observing Sites GSSP 2010, July 10 - 14
Frosty Acres Ranch
Adin, CA

OMG! Its full of stars.
Golden State Star Party
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