[AZ-Observing] Re: 5 mile meadow, things to know

Rotramel, Rick (AZ77) wrote:

>       Any comments? This list has been rather quiet about this star
>party......
>
>  
>
I'll make a stab at it. I arrived at 7:30 when it was already pretty 
dark. I had grossly underestimated how long it would take to get there 
from Dewey (by about 45 minutes. It took me almost 2 hour). It has been 
many years since I have been in such a dark area. I used to observe in 
the area. The place I frequented was a little north of Happy Jack on the 
east side of  the highway. When I started working full time on my 
property near Dewey in 1983 I spent all my weekends working and as a 
result I stopped going to the Happy Jack area. I knew the skies had 
deteriorated considerably since 1983, but I had not realized the full 
extent until I got back that night. Yuk! The skies here are horrible. I 
will still be able to do the astronomy I want, which does not require an 
absolute dark sky site, but it sure is not what it used to be. I had 
purchased the property in 1981 and apparently there wasn't that much 
noticeable difference, to me, between the skies at Dewey vs. Happy Jack. 
If there was a big difference I would not have gotten the place. There 
sure is a big difference now, and although the sky is still okay, on a 
relative basis, it definitely lacks the awe and beauty that causes a 
person to truly enjoy the dark sky.

I am not happy now and the finders of this spot, Steve and AJ(?), are to 
blame :-)        
However, I have a short memory and if I stop going to these beautiful 
spiritualistic places I will forget how bad Dewey is and once again will 
be happy.
Stan

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