May 23, 2009: D.A.R.C observing report

Dennis Beckley

Yesterday drove down to D.A.R.C observatory from Benicia for my first night observing in many months. The ride down is easy for me - all freeway until the last few country miles. I took my Orion XT 10 with the SkyCommander DSC's rather than my usual Obsession 18 and platform. Spent the night from dusk to down mainly interacting with my new found observing buddy Jim Harper from Saratoga, I believe, who had broght his 16 inch dob with a Royce-refigured mirror - very nice! His DSC's weren't working so we we worked together cranking out multiple objects in Steve's Deep Space 600. Focused on seeing more detail in brighter objects rather looking at more obscure dim fuzzies on the threshold of detection. We were still going strong at dawn's light with jupiter and venus both high over the horizon. It was great fun and Jim got in some good preparation prior to GSSP next month. I spent the whole night using just my new Baader Hyperion 8-24 zoom eyepiece which is very sharp and avoids having to keep swaping out multiple eyepieces for each object. A plus when where trying to see as many objects in one night as possible.

Much has been written about about the merits about the advantages and disadvantages of the various TAC sites. Here's my take on D.A.R.C, which I really like:

Advantages:

• Easy drive ( a little over two hours from Benicia on good freeways)
• Amazing observatory complex with all the amenities - food, running water, electricity, working johns, plus great hosts - Lee and Bob who last night put on an amazing impromtu dinner for the 30 plus guests
• VERY dark skies - got an average SQM reading of 21.7 and estimated the NLM around 6.7 - so many stars hard to discern the common constellations - striking MW overhead
• Incredible 360 degree horizon (Omega Centauri was an easy target last night)
• No fog problem!
• Lower altitude - warmer temperatures
• No dew problems (at least last night this was true)
• Private property - no hassle from uninvited rowdy's
• Lots of knowledgeable observers willing to share the fun

Minor disadvantages:

• Wind is a problem early ( prevailing westerlies and updrafts ( you're on top of a mesa) but wind usually dies after dark as it did last night
• Dust - have to keep all equipment covered until after the wind dies down

This is one of my favorite sites and big shoutout to owners Bob and Lee for sharing it with us TACO's.

Dennis Beckley