Speaking of the prison, I've got to share this story. About 25 years ago when I was working for Hansen Planetarium I was requested by the folks who run the Draper Hilton to do an astronomy lesson for some of their medium security guests who were taking high school classes. I asked if they'd also like me to do a Star Party. (I was all of 23 at the time and very naïve.) They asked what that involved and when I told them about it they said it sounded great. The night of the Star Party came and I dutifully lugged an orange C8 out into the large exercise yard/baseball diamond. As I began setting up the telescope the head guard came out and said, "What do you think you're doing?" I began to explain what was going on and he cut me off, pointing at my Levi jacket. "Take that off." I wasn't eager to take off the only protection against cool night air I'd brought with me so I asked him "Why?" His reply got my attention: "On these grounds, those are targets." It turns out that Levi jackets were issued to the inmates. Abandoning my jacket I returned to setting up the scope. When I was ready I was joined by Steve, the prison staff member who had organized this educational activity for the prisoners and about a dozen of his clients. They were of course thrilled to be outside during off-schedule hours. The lighting they had on the playing field was blinding, probably brighter than the lighting at a night game in the NFL. I asked (seriously, I really did this) if it was possible to turn off all the field lighting, since their glare made observing through the telescope nearly impossible. I was met with howls of laughter. The inmates were ribbing each other and saying, "Yeah, Steve! Turn out the lights, man! We need it to be DARK 'round here for a while!" Steve himself was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, and simply shook his head. I finally got it. Okay. So, I did a "Star Party" under conditions that were so bright I probably should have brought SPF 45 sunblock. We looked at the moon. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+sjarvis=slco.org@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 8:20 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Border Lighting Excellent news. But then I guess I'm not completely surprised. All one has to do is fly over the prison down by point of the mountain at night to see folks who _really_ know security know it makes no sense to have a lot of scattered glare when trying to spot the bad guys. pw _______________________________________________ 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.utahastronomy.com