[sac-board] Re: Messier Marathon Site
- From: "AJ Crayon" <acrayon@xxxxxxx>
- To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:35:08 -0700
Tom, you have hit upon thoughts that have been in my mind since we started
this discussion. That is the altitude and azimuth for early setters and
late risers. Actually I was going to wait until a site survey was made to
determine those parameters.
Agree whole heartily about you illusion discussion.
Actually my belief, and it is only a belief perhaps opinion, is that the
mountains to the east are actually more to the south then east or southeast.
I remember, one winter evening watching Canopus pass between the ridges of
the mountains.
So, as you may have realized that if you can make the measurements for these
few objects please do so as I would greatly appreciate it. Keep in mind
that marathons may take place from mid-March to early April, not sure how
much difference this would be but I know you will consider.
I don't see why something like this shouldn't be done. It isn't out of the
question. Please go ahead and work your magic. I look forward to your
results.
AJ Crayon
Phoenix, AZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Polakis" <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 11:17 AM
Subject: [sac-board] Messier Marathon Site
Before we give up on the Antenna site in favor of a site with lower
horizons, I wondered if anybody has measured the altitude and azimuth of the
obstructing mountains, and compared this to where the low setters and risers
are. Seems like the only directions that really matter are due west (M74
and M77) and east-southeast (M30). Perhaps to a lesser extent, it's nice to
have a low northwest horizon to be able to pick up such objects as M33 and
M31's satellites in the evening rather than the morning. By the way, on the
morning of April 3, M30 will be pretty easy. So maybe all that matters is a
low west horizon, which Antennas has.
One illusion that is at least as strong as the "moon illusion" is that of
mountains seeming to loom higher in altitude during the day than they really
are. I have found that you can set up right next to a mountain -- as is the
case at Antennas -- and it turns out to be only 5 degrees high.
If I can show that the obstruction from the terrain around the Antennas site
is being overestimated, would it still be under consideration as a Messier
Marathon site? Before heading out to the site, I think I can take a shot at
this with Google Earth and simple trigonometry. If it's out of the question
for some other reason, however, I won't make any more effort. Thanks.
Tom
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