[sac-board] Re: 2005 SAC Meeting Dates?

I'm moving this back to SAC-Board (these replies don't contain the PDF
file which was the original reason for sending it separately.)

Rick, it the future, please include SAC-Board on the mailings with
attachments.  The attachment will be stripped, but at least the thread can
continue on the mailing list...


On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:20:21, Tom Polakis wrote:

> Why is the June star party not being held on June 11?  Is it fear of a
> two-week interval between star parties?  The waxing, 4-day crescent moon
> sets at 11:30, but that's two hours after astronomical twilight, and the
> thin moon well away from the Sgr/Sco Milky Way, posing little interference.
>  Also, there is very little scatter in the data regarding the onset of the
> monsoon.  It's never here in mid-June, and it is almost always here in the
> first week of July.  Having a star party even in early July is almost
> ensuring high humidity, if not clouds.

Traditionally the star party is 8 days after the club meeting (last
quarter moon), which puts it on May 28th.

Would anyone attend with a 5-day old moon? (I get 5 days with NM occurring
on Monday.)


> >> The Messier Marathon is going to be interesting.
> >
> >The earlier this is scheduled, the more likely it is to be interfered by
> >winter storm weather.
> 
> 
> Actually, March is statistically a bit clearer than April, when the
> subtropical cirrus moves in.  Take a look at Brian's data from Lowell:
> 
> http://www.psiaz.com/polakis/cloudiness/month.jpg
> 
> Since this was taken in Flagstaff, April would be even cloudier relative to
> March down here in the deserts where Winter troughs are less of a factor.
> 
> More importantly, 109 Messier objects can be seen on March 12, when you'd
> miss only M30.  On April 9 you would certainly miss M74, M77, and M33,
> netting a disappointing 'perfect' score of 107 objects.  What do you think,
> AJ?

According to your chart, the difference between March and April is very
slight, much less than a night.  While March is slightly clearer, the
storms usually mean an extra day of drying is required.

The farther south you are the clearer it is.  We've had rain many times in
Phoenix while the marathon has had an almost entirely clear night.  This
differentiation would render the Flagstaff data difficult to use for the
AZ City site in March/April.

107 or 109, neither is 110.  I don't expect it would make much of a
difference to participants.  Although the choice of date is ultimately up
to AJ.

        -Paul

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