Sounds fun! --- On Fri, 7/16/10, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> wrote: From: Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] another nice night To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Friday, July 16, 2010, 9:00 AM Hello -- Yesterday's weather was nice. The family and I went camping at Rockport State Park. I set up about 10:30, and despite a group of campers setting up after quiet time, starting a fire, and all lanterns blazing, with some shading of my face, I had a decent session. Sixteen Herschels. Completed all objects in Libra, Hercules, Draco, Bootes, and Ursa Minor, leaving one in Ursa Major that got too low in the sky. Even though Rockport doesn't have the darkness rating of sites like Lakeside or Pit 'n' Pole, the Milky Way shows detail -- rifts and bulges. M13 was naked eye, as well as the usual assortment of open clusters. Basically all the Messiers in Sagittarius were visible in 10x50 binoculars. It's 45 minutes from my house, and camping is $10. On a warm day, I can take the kids up to swim, hike, have a campfire. Then observing for a few hours, packed out and at my desk in my office with a cup of coffee by 7:30. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com