FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: Stan's Star Party

[Stan Gorodenski <stan_gorodenski@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dan Heim wrote:

>I stayed at Blue Hills until around 10:30 pm, at which time the sky was very
>clear.  
>

It is too bad you left so early, Dan. The sky was fantastic from about 
midnight, I would guess, until I went to bed at 3:30. The double double 
in Lyra was nicely split, the transparency greatly increased, the skies 
got very noticeably better, and around 2:30 when I decided to take a 
peak at Jupiter I as astounded. It was nice and crisp and full of 
detail. It was a great night, later on, in my opinion.

>Only problem was a haze low in the west.  We suspect it was from the
>CA fires, since it was only in the west.  Venus setting was diffused ...
>like looking through fog and definitely orange tinted.  One other small
>problem was those falling ducks.  They were all over the place.
>
>Thanks for a great time Stan!  Love your new 16" Meade.
>  
>

I love it also. I have to thank Jeff Hopkins for steering me in this 
direction. Before I decided to get it I was wrestling with the 
Paramount. I had spent considerable effort trying to make it work in my 
observatory, but a German Equatorial just does not work because it was 
designed for a fork mount. My focus was still on my 12.5" Dall-Kirkham 
and I had even considered getting rid of the Paramount and having a 
custom fork mount made instead. Jeff suggested I look into the Meade 16 
inchers and I did. I re-evaluated and decided it was time to step into 
the modern world instead of staying with the Dall-Kirkham, which still 
would have needed substantial OTA work even if I had made the Paramount 
work. Jeff is responsible for making me see the light. It is definitely 
a huge leap up from my old Dall-Kirkham.
Stan

>  
>
>  
>
--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.