[sac-forum] Re: Flatiron and vicinity
- From: "Steve Coe" <stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:33:45 -0700
Matt, et al;
I don't think that any one hour drive site is going to be any better as far
as the light dome of 3 million people. I also think that we do need to find
another one hour drive or "close in" site because on nights with a midnight
Moonrise I think that few club members would be willing to drive to a dark
site far from the city. My opinion.
Here is what I have found in the couple of times that I have explored a
little in the area west of Phoenix. First, the next exit beyond 339th Ave.
on the I-10 is Wintersburg Rd and it is useless. There is a high school
that that has invested a lot of school funds in lighting and when they are
on the entire countryside is lit up for a mile or more.
So, the Tonopah exit is next and turning to the north very quickly gets you
onto a bad dirt road within a mile or two of the freeway. They might fix it
in the future, but as of Sept. it is very bumpy. Turning to the south at
Tonopah will provide some open spots, but there are plenty of houses around
and I don't know if any of them have dusk to dawn lighting. We will have to
go look some evening.
I have one other thought and that is the old Hwy. 87 going south toward Gila
Bend. If you drive Hwy 87 past the big three-way red light and then drive
on toward the Hassayampa river bridge, this road turns off to the west
before the river. It winds around for 20 miles or so and then connects back
into the main highway just north of Gila Bend. The little town of Arlington
is along the way. It is possible that there are some dark spots along that
road which we could use. Again a drive out that way needs to be done.
I hope that we can find someplace worth driving to, it is bound to be better
than my backyard for deep sky.
Clear Skies to us all;
Steve Coe
-----Original Message-----
From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Matt
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 3:30 PM
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [sac-forum] Re: Flatiron and vicinity
Isn't the Flatiron site in the future Douglas Ranch development? If so, we
will lose the site completely.
Personally, I consider it already lost. For a 1-hour drive, the light dome
is huge.
Matt
_____
From: sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-forum-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Dan Gruber
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 2:02 PM
To: sac-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [sac-forum] Flatiron and vicinity
The CSC lied yesterday and said viewing at Flatiron would be okay until
midnight. I was there from 4.15 - 4.45 pm and it was completely overcast. I
left when nobody showed up to commiserate with.
More interesting were the signs posted all over the place indicating that a
developer wants to amend the local general plan to develop up to 85,000
homes (plus other stuff) on about 25,000 acres running roughly from 335th
Ave. to 370th Ave. and from I - 10 north to the canal. This would bring
development to about 5 miles south of the site. Combined with relentless
development west of the White Tanks (see today's AZ Republic), this doesn't
bode well. I wonder how many more years we have for reasonably dark skies at
Flatiron?
Happy holidays,
Dan
PS. If anybody has the week off from work and would like to try observing
later in the week, please let me know.
Dan Gruber
<mailto:dgruber@xxxxxxxxxxxx> dgruber@xxxxxxxxxxxx
home (480) 951 - 6877
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