[AZ-Observing] Last nite's observing at Cherry Rd.

Hey All, 
Well, Telrad & I headed on up the Cherry Rd last nite to do some cool 
observing.  We were not dissapointed!  As AJ pointed out earlier, the temps 
really dropped, with my thermometer hitting a low of 45*.  Cool enough for a 
heavy flannel with a fleece pullover.  Even got out the Mad Bomber hat in the 
last hour.  (ears were getting chilly)  Ma Nature treated us to a sky that was 
quite transparent, rated a 7/10, but seeing never really got better than a 
6/10, with very few brief moments being better.  I was aimed at Draco to do the 
5 H400's in there, and Rick was calmly trying to finish off his SAC 110 NGC's.  
We were both rewarded with success, and some time left to dink around the sky.  
We were treated to some pretty nice views of the Milky way, which was quite 
billowed in the good transparency.  Telescopically, I visually confirmed that 
most of the showpiece objects in Scorpious and Sagitarrius are still firmly 
anchored where they're supposed to be.  M20, 24, 17, 16, 8, etc were all just 
stunning at lower powers, though I'm positive that Matt and crew had a MUCH 
better view at Flatiron due to Cherry's extremely poor southern horizon.  :-)  
(Sorry Matt, you'll have to get even sometime.)  Mars was a waterlogged button 
of light, but every once in a while, dark markings became evident, and we both 
confirmed one another's observations of the position of the polar cap.  Rick 
also confirmed that Mars just isn't that good looking with an O-III filter.  We 
were also treated to a few short streaks of meteoric light, which in several 
cases appeared to come from the direction of Altair.  But the most eventful 
part of the expedition was on the way home.  Rick was just turning off the 101 
at around 2:45am when I noticed a pickup truck swerving badly.  It became 
obvious that the guy driving was totally soused, and nearly took himself out of 
the equation when he missed a guardrail by a matter of inches..  A call to 911 
came to fruition when a DPS officer pulled over on the shoulder waiting keyed 
in on the description I gave of the vehicle and the flashing of my brights.  
The drunk hadn't gotten a quarter mile past the officer's spot before he was 
pulled over.  I imagine that one of the shady TV advertising lawyers who handle 
DUI cases got a call early this morning.  ("When I was arrested for DUI, I 
called Dewey Skrewum and Howe")  Anyways, I slept well knowing that I did my 
small part.

Here's hoping the GCSP is good for all, and that we can have more of the same 
this coming weekend.

Thad


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