November 14, 2009: Dinosaur Point

Albert Highe

Conditions were surprisingly good at Dino considering that my wife predicted Saturday morning that I wasn't going anywhere. It had rained quite heavily in Redwood City, leaving large puddles on the deck and roads. Clouds still masked the sky at Noon. Nevertheless, armed with encouraging weather forecasts and satellite images, I planned to head out. I suspected we might get some dew.

As predicted, the skies began clearing during early afternoon. On the drive down, clouds still clung to the hilltops to the East of 101. However, skies were completely clear, and stayed that way, at the Dino lot.

It turns out the gate automatically closed around 5:30PM, approximately a half-hour after sunset. It stopped three late-arrivals. Fortunately, two were lucky to enter as a late boater departed. The other arrived later and decided to hike down with his equipment. This is not a good idea. The distance from the gate to the lot is nearly three miles! Please arrive by Sunset or risk being locked out.

Early in the evening, a new supervising ranger showed up. Apparently he hadn't been informed of our OI. He may institute some new procedures. Watch for updates to follow in upcoming days.

We had about a dozen people enjoy relatively good conditions. The temperature bottomed out in the mid-40's. Surprisingly, dew was non-existent. The percent relative humidity stayed in the mid to high 60's. With no wind, conditions were quite pleasant for a winter night. I found seeing was very good early on. The double-double was clearly split, showing steady black sky between each pair. Some people remarked that transparency was off, but I didn't really notice.

I observed with my grab-and-go 13" f/4.5. I spent most of the time checking off odds and sods in Cassiopeia and Cygnus. Many were disappointing open clusters. One particular surprise was planetary nebula NGC 6894. It is about 2/3rds the diameter of M57 and more nearly circular. It appears just slightly oval. It is considerably dimmer than M57, but not a challenge object. With an unfiltered 7mm Nagler T6 (212X), I could hold it steadily with averted vision and picked up a darker interior.

Hope most of you got out.
Albert