FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: Cherry Rd last night - WOW!

[Tom Polakis <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>]

AJ Crayon wrote:

> Last night at Cherry Rd was, perhaps, the best observing conditions I can 
> remember.  Clear, cool, dry and a very slight breeze from time to time.  I 
> rated the seeing and transparency as an easy 7/10 for both and I could easily 
> be talked into 8/10!


AJ,

When you give the transparency a rating, is this an assessment of the night 
independent of where you're set up, or is it a combination of how transparent 
*and* how dark the site is?

For what it's worth, I spent the last eight photometric nights in west 
Michigan, which has also been experiencing unusually transparent weather in the 
past couple months.

We visited the first "dark sky" observing site I ever used: the (don't laugh) 
Muskegon Wastewater Facility, which I first alerted the local amateurs to in 
1978.  Now it boasts two domes and three roll-offs, and a city sign at the 
entrance.

http://members.cox.net/tpolakis/misc/wastewater.jpg

To bring this back around to Arizona observing, we should appreciate our 
state's lighting ordinances.  The lighting around Michigan is bad beyond words.

Tom

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