[sac-forum] Gasline Rd last night

Matt Luttinen, Steve Perry & Myself were photon starved enough to chance
iffy skies and check out the new gasline road site. We met at the McD's by
the mini stack at I-10 Loop 101 about 1630 Timing on the way out was messed
up by unexplained traffic that had us down to 25 mph on I-10 past Litchfield
road. Anyway we found the site easy enough, Steve marked it well, Also
showing up were Janis & Leon Shoenfeld. They, however lacked the optimism of
the three of us and left the site b4 dark. We decided to give it until 2000
and then we'd pack up if the skies didn't clear. Our patience was paid off
as the skies did open up enough to get some eyepiece time in. Not the best
seeing, but considering I haven't looked though an eyepiece since October,
it was fine by me.

Any here are my comments about the site:

Easy enough to get to. The trip home was a hour to the mini stack, could
have been less but we took it very slow to the freeway as we were unfamiliar
with the roads. All told to my house it was about 10-15 minutes longer than
to Flatiron. Not having been to Hovatter road as yet, I can't make a
comparison there. Those concerned about the dirt road blvd site's 6 miles of
Dirt road, know that you've got 4 miles here. There are a couple of pretty
deep washes to navigate as well. While the family car should be able to make
it through, caution would be advised if the weather has been recently wet.

There were some high cirrus cloud  over Phoenix that never quite dissipated,
and the reflection of Aurora Phoenicia was quite bright. All three of us
agreed that a cloudless night this would not be as bad. ON the other end of
the stick, we could see the Zodiacal light clear through to the Pleiades and
the skies to the south were quite dark. I noticed a small light dome to the
SW that I presumed to be Yuma, it was not really a factor.

The one really big concern was traffic on Dobbins Rd. Several vehicle passed
by during the time we were there. Mostly heading east. These were not really
a problem, you was the lights but they were pointed away from you and
partially obscured by the desert brush. However, three vehicle went by
heading west. Due to the Curve in Dobbins Rd right before the site they
poured their light right into the observing field. Bright enough to cast
shadows. This was the one big concern we went away with. Not sure if there
is a way to block the approach or not but it seemed to be about 1 vehicle
per hour. We'll have to decide if that is accept able or not.

Anyway the clouds rolled back in around 2200, so we packed up & headed home.
We left the site at 2235 and I was home by 2350, 1 15 minutes, about 10 more
than Flatiron. All in al we conclude the extra 10 minutes was worth the
improvement in skies.

I'd still like to get out to Dirt road Blvd for comparison, so stay tuned.

My 5.18823 Greek Drachmae Worth.  

Rick Tejera 
President 
Editor SACnews
Saguaro Astronomy Club
Phoenix, Arizona
saguaroastro@xxxxxxx
www.saguaroastro.org

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