My only regrets about a wonderful trip to the north rim version of the Grand Canyon Star Party were that I didn't get to meet Mark Rieck. Mark, I will simply have to come again. It was a joy to meet such nice people as Jim Mahon, Richard Wade, John Woodard, Nancy Christopherson, Karen and Delroy, and others. Jim and Richard did yeoman service on solar and eclipse version and I can say with certainty that they planted the seeds of astronomy fever in young and old alike. It isn't easy to maintain intense enthusiasm about solar prominence viewing for four and five hours in a row but Jim and Richard made sure that the 489th person to look through the scope got the same attention as the first. I heard at least two people say, "I never do things like this. When the folks back home hear that I took up with strangers and drove out to Cape Royal in the middle of the night to look through some strange guy's telescope they will think I went off the deep end..." The truth is that with this crowd no one is a stranger for long. New friendships were forged and may be the most enduring memory of this gathering.
The skies at the north rim and in Escalante are spectacular in the extreme. I can corroborate Jim's observation that we could both see M13 and M5 naked eye with a 3 day moon high in the sky--indeed I could see my shadow from the moon and M13 and M5 at the same time. The horizons from Cape Royal and from Grand Staircase/Escalante monument in southeastern Utah were much like I would imagine one would have in the middle of the ocean. What magical places these are!
Richard Wade's generosity with his 20 inch Dob had to be experienced to be believed. On the several occasions when I felt like I was taking over his instrument he would cackle his wonderful laugh and allow that he was having fun seeing me have so much fun. When you are with Jim Mahon you have have instant identification of everything that flies--B1B, B2 refueling on a tanker at night, C130, space shuttle, Iridium flare that had to be -7 or -8 out at Escalante.
John Woodard and his sister Nancy are wonderful people who educated us about flightless wasps in the desert, Tarantula wasps, Grand Canyon hiking, the Alaska marine highway where John works, as well as sharing their telescopes, water, and creating desert "banquets."
We also thank those on the South Rim for the laser light show at midnight on Wednesday. Sorry we didn't have the equipment to reciprocate.
A return to Midwestern skies on a "clear" day has reminded me of something Maurice Clark said in the observing forum about the difference between the skies in Perth, Australia and Minnesota. It is indeed a different kind of blue. Midwestern "blue" sky looks like "sky au lait" compared to the intense blue of the western desert or that of Southwest Australia. In two weeks out west I never saw a drop of dew.
The skies at the north rim and in Escalante are spectacular in the extreme. I can corroborate Jim's observation that we could both see M13 and M5 naked eye with a 3 day moon high in the sky--indeed I could see my shadow from the moon and M13 and M5 at the same time. The horizons from Cape Royal and from Grand Staircase/Escalante monument in southeastern Utah were much like I would imagine one would have in the middle of the ocean. What magical places these are!
Richard Wade's generosity with his 20 inch Dob had to be experienced to be believed. On the several occasions when I felt like I was taking over his instrument he would cackle his wonderful laugh and allow that he was having fun seeing me have so much fun. When you are with Jim Mahon you have have instant identification of everything that flies--B1B, B2 refueling on a tanker at night, C130, space shuttle, Iridium flare that had to be -7 or -8 out at Escalante.
John Woodard and his sister Nancy are wonderful people who educated us about flightless wasps in the desert, Tarantula wasps, Grand Canyon hiking, the Alaska marine highway where John works, as well as sharing their telescopes, water, and creating desert "banquets."
We also thank those on the South Rim for the laser light show at midnight on Wednesday. Sorry we didn't have the equipment to reciprocate.
A return to Midwestern skies on a "clear" day has reminded me of something Maurice Clark said in the observing forum about the difference between the skies in Perth, Australia and Minnesota. It is indeed a different kind of blue. Midwestern "blue" sky looks like "sky au lait" compared to the intense blue of the western desert or that of Southwest Australia. In two weeks out west I never saw a drop of dew.
