In case anyone is interested. I'm heading out to Rush Valley tonight (Pit n Pole). I'll be there probably all night, sleeping the back of the Pathfinder and coming home in the morning. Clear Sky Clock shows very mild temperatures, winds gone by 9:00p.m. and good seeing with humidity staying around 45% until right before dawn when it spikes to 55%. If someone wants to come along, feel free to show up or if you want to follow me, respond by 6:00p.m. here as I'll be leaving soon after that. Jay
On Mon, 12 Jul 2010, Jay Eads wrote:
In case anyone is interested. I'm heading out to Rush Valley tonight (Pit n Pole). I'll be there probably all night, sleeping the back of the Pathfinder and coming home in the morning. Clear Sky Clock shows very mild temperatures, winds gone by 9:00p.m. and good seeing with humidity staying around 45% until right before dawn when it spikes to 55%. If someone wants to come along, feel free to show up or if you want to follow me, respond by 6:00p.m. here as I'll be leaving soon after that.
Jay -- For Pit 'n' Pole, do you use the Camp Floyd CSC? Just curious. I have my favorites on my phone. I really like Knolls, actually. My Pit 'n' Pole experience has been very dirty and wet. I want to go somewhere tonight, but I probably can't leave until 9:00. Target is UMa Herschels. I had a couple of decent nights lately. I think that Kodachrome Basin State Park was a great place to observe. It's ever-so-slightly darker than Bryce. I set up at site 17 -- in a spot where the geology was not of any more affect than the vegetation. I cleared out all the Ophiucus and Sagittarius Herschels in about an hour. It was disorienting, though, one night later to be camping at Rockport and Cassiopaiea was already up at 10:00 -- the N, W, and E horizons at Kodachrome leave something to be desired. I am lackadaisically working on Caldwells as well. I'm absolutely stuck on the Bubble Nebula in Cass, the Cave by Cepheus, and the Crescent in Cygnus. I have tried with my 6" scope under as dark skies as one can hope for, with UHC and O-III filters, but can't claim victory on these. At Knolls, I don't have too much trouble with Herschels rated "2" (at Kodachrome, I could see "1"s) by O'Meara, but some stuff on the Caldwell list is rough. I know I'm pointed right at it, but I can't see it. Anyway, if I go to the pit tonight, I'll turn my headlights off. But it seems more likely that I'll go to Lakeside or Knoll. Or if I feel like sleeping, I'll go to Rockport. I can't extol Rockport enough. "My" spot is near the entry gate where there is a sign about fishermen only and no overnight parking. The W horizon isn't great from here. The campground sites have good horizons though. With a 6" scope and inferior eyepieces, I have seen all the Herschels in Ophiucus and Aquila from here, as well as most of the Herschels in Leo. A couple of times I've had to go farther to the entrance of Smith and Morehouse campground, which has poor horizons, but it's really dark.
Jay
_______________________________________________ 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
---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu
Yes, lots don't like the Pit n Pole site, you have to know when to go and when to get out of there and I do agree it is rather dusty. Wolf Creek though was dusty also this last Saturday. Michael I'm working on Herschels tonight in Oph. and Hercules so if you want to meet somewhere I could do that just as well. I just need time to set up and mainly to collimate my new scope as that is sometimes taking a little longer as I'm still adjusting to some things on it. Lakeside would be good or Rockport, I've never tried the Knolls. Let me know here or give me a call, I'll email you my cell. It's not necessary, but is nice to have someone around. Jay On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 3:41 PM, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu>wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jul 2010, Jay Eads wrote:
In case anyone is interested. I'm heading out to Rush Valley tonight (Pit
n Pole). I'll be there probably all night, sleeping the back of the Pathfinder and coming home in the morning. Clear Sky Clock shows very mild temperatures, winds gone by 9:00p.m. and good seeing with humidity staying around 45% until right before dawn when it spikes to 55%. If someone wants to come along, feel free to show up or if you want to follow me, respond by 6:00p.m. here as I'll be leaving soon after that.
Jay --
For Pit 'n' Pole, do you use the Camp Floyd CSC? Just curious. I have my favorites on my phone. I really like Knolls, actually. My Pit 'n' Pole experience has been very dirty and wet. I want to go somewhere tonight, but I probably can't leave until 9:00. Target is UMa Herschels.
I had a couple of decent nights lately. I think that Kodachrome Basin State Park was a great place to observe. It's ever-so-slightly darker than Bryce. I set up at site 17 -- in a spot where the geology was not of any more affect than the vegetation. I cleared out all the Ophiucus and Sagittarius Herschels in about an hour. It was disorienting, though, one night later to be camping at Rockport and Cassiopaiea was already up at 10:00 -- the N, W, and E horizons at Kodachrome leave something to be desired.
I am lackadaisically working on Caldwells as well. I'm absolutely stuck on the Bubble Nebula in Cass, the Cave by Cepheus, and the Crescent in Cygnus. I have tried with my 6" scope under as dark skies as one can hope for, with UHC and O-III filters, but can't claim victory on these. At Knolls, I don't have too much trouble with Herschels rated "2" (at Kodachrome, I could see "1"s) by O'Meara, but some stuff on the Caldwell list is rough. I know I'm pointed right at it, but I can't see it.
Anyway, if I go to the pit tonight, I'll turn my headlights off. But it seems more likely that I'll go to Lakeside or Knoll. Or if I feel like sleeping, I'll go to Rockport.
I can't extol Rockport enough. "My" spot is near the entry gate where there is a sign about fishermen only and no overnight parking. The W horizon isn't great from here. The campground sites have good horizons though. With a 6" scope and inferior eyepieces, I have seen all the Herschels in Ophiucus and Aquila from here, as well as most of the Herschels in Leo. A couple of times I've had to go farther to the entrance of Smith and Morehouse campground, which has poor horizons, but it's really dark.
Jay
_______________________________________________ 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
---- 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
-- Jay Eads
Michael, Sent you an email. I forgot, yes I use the Camp Floyd CSC as Floyd mirrors conditions pretty well. I also check the NWS Mesone<http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/gmap/>t network for conditions as the sites like Pit n Pole, near Lookout Pass in the OnaQui (there is a site elevated there, that works nicely out of the humidity that I go to by myself. Guess I have let one out of the bag now) or some areas up in the OnaQui Mountains or near the Sheeprock Mnts that would work though they require the use of other stations and combined with experience on site allows one to know which are good to go. Tonight the desert looks better for seeing than the mountains though. On Rockport has a ranger or police person ever come by and talked with you? I really think I would like to try Rockport sometime. On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, lots don't like the Pit n Pole site, you have to know when to go and when to get out of there and I do agree it is rather dusty. Wolf Creek though was dusty also this last Saturday. Michael I'm working on Herschels tonight in Oph. and Hercules so if you want to meet somewhere I could do that just as well. I just need time to set up and mainly to collimate my new scope as that is sometimes taking a little longer as I'm still adjusting to some things on it. Lakeside would be good or Rockport, I've never tried the Knolls. Let me know here or give me a call, I'll email you my cell. It's not necessary, but is nice to have someone around.
Jay
On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 3:41 PM, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu
wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jul 2010, Jay Eads wrote:
In case anyone is interested. I'm heading out to Rush Valley tonight (Pit
n Pole). I'll be there probably all night, sleeping the back of the Pathfinder and coming home in the morning. Clear Sky Clock shows very mild temperatures, winds gone by 9:00p.m. and good seeing with humidity staying around 45% until right before dawn when it spikes to 55%. If someone wants to come along, feel free to show up or if you want to follow me, respond by 6:00p.m. here as I'll be leaving soon after that.
Jay --
For Pit 'n' Pole, do you use the Camp Floyd CSC? Just curious. I have my favorites on my phone. I really like Knolls, actually. My Pit 'n' Pole experience has been very dirty and wet. I want to go somewhere tonight, but I probably can't leave until 9:00. Target is UMa Herschels.
I had a couple of decent nights lately. I think that Kodachrome Basin State Park was a great place to observe. It's ever-so-slightly darker than Bryce. I set up at site 17 -- in a spot where the geology was not of any more affect than the vegetation. I cleared out all the Ophiucus and Sagittarius Herschels in about an hour. It was disorienting, though, one night later to be camping at Rockport and Cassiopaiea was already up at 10:00 -- the N, W, and E horizons at Kodachrome leave something to be desired.
I am lackadaisically working on Caldwells as well. I'm absolutely stuck on the Bubble Nebula in Cass, the Cave by Cepheus, and the Crescent in Cygnus. I have tried with my 6" scope under as dark skies as one can hope for, with UHC and O-III filters, but can't claim victory on these. At Knolls, I don't have too much trouble with Herschels rated "2" (at Kodachrome, I could see "1"s) by O'Meara, but some stuff on the Caldwell list is rough. I know I'm pointed right at it, but I can't see it.
Anyway, if I go to the pit tonight, I'll turn my headlights off. But it seems more likely that I'll go to Lakeside or Knoll. Or if I feel like sleeping, I'll go to Rockport.
I can't extol Rockport enough. "My" spot is near the entry gate where there is a sign about fishermen only and no overnight parking. The W horizon isn't great from here. The campground sites have good horizons though. With a 6" scope and inferior eyepieces, I have seen all the Herschels in Ophiucus and Aquila from here, as well as most of the Herschels in Leo. A couple of times I've had to go farther to the entrance of Smith and Morehouse campground, which has poor horizons, but it's really dark.
Jay
_______________________________________________ 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
---- 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
-- Jay Eads
-- Jay Eads
Jay -- At Rockport, for $10 a night you can take a spot at one of the campgrounds that has no flush toilets. I recommend the Twin Pines campgrounds. The camgrounds have better horizons, but Rockport can be loud and bright until midnight. When I just go out for observing, right after you pull into the park driveway, there is a spot off to the left that I assume is for walk-in fishermen. It says no overnight parking, but I don't think it is enforced if you are standing by your car. There are a number of parking spots/view areas along the road to Rockport, but technically, parking a car there gets you a fee. I think as long as you stand next to your car, you're OK. If you pass Rockport and continue south, then turn east into the Weber Canyon, after a little while you reach a sign for the entrace to Smith and Morehouse campground. I set up right on the corner there a couple of times. It is bitter cold in the winter -- negative Fahrenheit, but in summer it's nicer. It is darker there than Rockport. It gets about 1 car per 2 hours traffic in the middle of the night. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu
See you at Lakeside, leaving now. On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 4:58 PM, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu>wrote:
Jay --
At Rockport, for $10 a night you can take a spot at one of the campgrounds that has no flush toilets. I recommend the Twin Pines campgrounds. The camgrounds have better horizons, but Rockport can be loud and bright until midnight. When I just go out for observing, right after you pull into the park driveway, there is a spot off to the left that I assume is for walk-in fishermen. It says no overnight parking, but I don't think it is enforced if you are standing by your car. There are a number of parking spots/view areas along the road to Rockport, but technically, parking a car there gets you a fee. I think as long as you stand next to your car, you're OK.
If you pass Rockport and continue south, then turn east into the Weber Canyon, after a little while you reach a sign for the entrace to Smith and Morehouse campground. I set up right on the corner there a couple of times. It is bitter cold in the winter -- negative Fahrenheit, but in summer it's nicer. It is darker there than Rockport. It gets about 1 car per 2 hours traffic in the middle of the night.
---- 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
-- Jay Eads
Jay: I missed the last 5 posts on this thread because I was headed out to Pit and Pole. Company is always nice but, as you say, not absolutely necessary. I had the whole valley to myself except for a paracute plane the took off and landed at the Pony express monument about a mile away, and a curious barn owl that buzzed me several times in twilight. Oh and later an Apache helicopter circled me and landed at the monument only to take off and circle me and land back at the monument. I have never seen this activity before, I could make out the missle pods on the copter with my 10x50's even at nautical twilight. Other than that, it was just me and the horned larks. Conditions were perfect, it cooled to 59F at midnight and no wind at all. Skies were clear as a bell. I took your suggestion and tried to photograph the milkyway with my DSLR. Photos and a fuller report later. DT --- On Mon, 7/12/10, Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Rush Valley Tonight To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Monday, July 12, 2010, 5:46 PM See you at Lakeside, leaving now.
On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 4:58 PM, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu>wrote:
Jay --
At Rockport, for $10 a night you can take a spot at one of the campgrounds that has no flush toilets. I recommend the Twin Pines campgrounds. The camgrounds have better horizons, but Rockport can be loud and bright until midnight. When I just go out for observing, right after you pull into the park driveway, there is a spot off to the left that I assume is for walk-in fishermen. It says no overnight parking, but I don't think it is enforced if you are standing by your car. There are a number of parking spots/view areas along the road to Rockport, but technically, parking a car there gets you a fee. I think as long as you stand next to your car, you're OK.
If you pass Rockport and continue south, then turn east into the Weber Canyon, after a little while you reach a sign for the entrace to Smith and Morehouse campground. I set up right on the corner there a couple of times. It is bitter cold in the winter -- negative Fahrenheit, but in summer it's nicer. It is darker there than Rockport. It gets about 1 car per 2 hours traffic in the middle of the night.
---- 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
-- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ 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
Daniel, I apologize! Conditions for once were suppose to be great there as it said on the Clear Sky Clock and I'm glad you had a good time. The helicopter thing has been going on now for about 2 months out there. Lakeside was excellent as well. A little humidity around 1:00p.m. but no papers were curled or wet so not too bad. Great night of observing Please call next time if your heading out, it would have been great to observe with you. On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 2:52 AM, daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com> wrote:
Jay:
I missed the last 5 posts on this thread because I was headed out to Pit and Pole. Company is always nice but, as you say, not absolutely necessary. I had the whole valley to myself except for a paracute plane the took off and landed at the Pony express monument about a mile away, and a curious barn owl that buzzed me several times in twilight. Oh and later an Apache helicopter circled me and landed at the monument only to take off and circle me and land back at the monument. I have never seen this activity before, I could make out the missle pods on the copter with my 10x50's even at nautical twilight. Other than that, it was just me and the horned larks.
Conditions were perfect, it cooled to 59F at midnight and no wind at all. Skies were clear as a bell.
I took your suggestion and tried to photograph the milkyway with my DSLR.
Photos and a fuller report later.
DT
--- On Mon, 7/12/10, Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Rush Valley Tonight To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Monday, July 12, 2010, 5:46 PM See you at Lakeside, leaving now.
On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 4:58 PM, Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu>wrote:
Jay --
At Rockport, for $10 a night you can take a spot at one of the campgrounds that has no flush toilets. I recommend the Twin Pines campgrounds. The camgrounds have better horizons, but Rockport can be loud and bright until midnight. When I just go out for observing, right after you pull into the park driveway, there is a spot off to the left that I assume is for walk-in fishermen. It says no overnight parking, but I don't think it is enforced if you are standing by your car. There are a number of parking spots/view areas along the road to Rockport, but technically, parking a car there gets you a fee. I think as long as you stand next to your car, you're OK.
If you pass Rockport and continue south, then turn east into the Weber Canyon, after a little while you reach a sign for the entrace to Smith and Morehouse campground. I set up right on the corner there a couple of times. It is bitter cold in the winter -- negative Fahrenheit, but in summer it's nicer. It is darker there than Rockport. It gets about 1 car per 2 hours traffic in the middle of the night.
---- 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
-- Jay Eads _______________________________________________ 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
-- Jay Eads
participants (3)
-
daniel turner -
Jay Eads -
Michael Vanopstall