I have found in general (last September being an exception) that the area from Capitol Reef to Bryce often clears when the rest of the state is socked in. I have been to both parks several times when (based on distant lightening strikes) bad weather was all around us yet we had clear skies. -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Robert Taylor Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 1:13 PM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Glad you were on Earth, based on your descriptions I wasn't sure. Sounds like Thursday was the better night. Yes, the season is still early, lot's of warmer week-ends ahead. Last year when I went down there I was able to get down there on Thursday and Thursday was the by far the best of the 3 nights as well. The skies at Natural Bridges are excellent but I wouldn't call them significantly better than Capital Reef or Bryce or even Wolf Creek on a good night except in the west. In fact straight up I think Bryce is better, the horizons are better at NB. The lack of services in the area of NB makes staying there more of a challenge. The closest services to NB are over 40 miles away, that's a bit of an issues for a multi-day stay for many people. You have to bring everything you need and watch the gas gauge carefully. I agree with your suggestion about going to Capital Reef or Bryce versus NB. Most of the time I think Bryce and Capital make more sense. However the NB area is very nice and the skies are world class. I wonder if there are better observing sites closer to Blanding where there are adequate services. NB is developing it's own astronomy program and does not really need our support at this point, it may change in the future but it's not today, so going there is strictly for our own benefit. I'm looking forward to Bryce next month and Capital reef and Wolf Creek later this summer. Robert Taylor -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Lowell Lyon Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 11:23 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Robert: I like you live on this beautiful place called Earth. I prefer to see the glass as being half full and so I enjoyed what good skies there were while I was there. I agree that April is an iffy month for the weather. I wish that the beautiful skies of Sunday through Wednesday could have continued. I'll bet they were great nights at Natural Bridges as well. Thursday night was beautiful and clear and calm. My goal was to see Omega Centauri which I did. I got a late start Thursday, so I observed from an area about 10 miles west of Blanding. Friday looked bad so I stayed in Blanding. Saturday night I got to the park after 11:00pm to see what things were like. What I wanted to see wasn't going to be rising until after then anyway. It became mostly clear and spectacularly dark not long after I got there and I didn't find the breeze objectionable. I didn't stay too long yet enjoyed the experience. Yes, it was cool yet nothing I couldn't deal with as I've been to Rush Valley with temperatures in the teens. In the future, I would probably suggest Capitol Reef or Bryce as they are certainly very dark on a good night and the motels are much closer to the observing areas. Capitol Reef is scheduled for dark sky observing in May, September and October and Bryce Canyon as you probably already know is in June. July and August new moon weekends will be at Wolf Creek. We'll have plenty of opportunities this year to get out. Lowell _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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