[AZ-Observing] No. AZ Observing Sites & Forest Closures
- From: BillFerris@xxxxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 20:31:38 EDT
As many of you are aware, the extreme drought conditions have forced the
Forest Service to close significant portions of the Coconino National Forest.
About 66% of the forest is closed (map:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/2002FireClosures/closure_maps.shtml ) to all
public use, including recreational astronomy. The closed area includes many
favorite dark-sky sites in the Flagstaff vicinity. However, the Doney
Mountain Picnic Area north of Flagstaff near Wupatki is still open. This is
an excellent dark sky site, which those of you traveling to the north country
to escape the valley heat should consider using:
DIRECTIONS TO DONEY MTN. PICNIC AREA:
1) From the Flagstaff Mall (at US 89 and I 40) proceed on US 89 north (toward
the Grand Canyon) 26.2 miles and turn right into Wupatki National Monument.
After turning, a signboard on the right shows a map of the Monument.
2) Proceed 9.6 miles (well past the Lomaki ruins turn on the left and the
Citadel pull-off on the right), and turn right, onto a very short road ending
in the parking area. A small wooden sign on the left marks the turnoff, but
is hard to see in the dark. You're there.
NOTE: If you find yourself going down a steep curving hill (the Doney fault)
you have gone too far and need to go back.
GPS coordinates of the parking lot are N35d 31' 55.0" W111d 24' 16.0". This
is about an hour's drive from Flagstaff. (When properly motivated ;o), I've
made the trip in 45-minutes from my home near downtown Flag.)
A DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE
The sky is quite dark. The zodiacal light is prominent in the west with the
zodiacal band being visible all the way to the Milky Way. The gegenschein is
an obvious, large oval patch. Seeing is pretty mediocre, typically. Heat
dissipation from the parking lot and wind currents through the area cinder
cones conspire to keep the seeing pretty soft, for the most part.
There is a large oval parking area with an adjacent picnic area, as well as
unheated (vault) restrooms. Both the parking lot and picnic area are suitable
for telescope setup, although much of the western sky is blocked by small
trees from the picnic area. There is no available power.
The horizon is fairly good, low in most directions, except toward the
north-northeast where Doney Mountain itself (a cinder cone) rises about 10
degrees up, and to the south-southeast where two small cinder cones also
block out a little of the sky (to about 5 degrees up). Omega Centauri clears
the horizon just west of these cinder cones. This is a high desert area so
there are no large trees, although there are quite a few Pinyon trees about
10-15 feet high around the parking lot. There is one light visible several
miles to the east, and some lights on the distant horizon in the Painted
Desert, 20-40 miles away. There is some detectable skyglow from Flagstaff in
the south-southwest.
Another advantage of this site is that an elevation of 5589', it is typically
5-10 degrees warmer than locations around Flagstaff. And a key feature is
that the Doney Mtn Picnic Area is actually in the Coconino National Forest,
so it's open at night.
Bill Ferris
"Cosmic Voyage: The Online Resource for Amateur Astronomers"
URL: http://www.cosmic-voyage.net
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