Thanks Rick. Regarding the planets in the image http://www.pbase.com/bsanden/image/64751444 : I consulted Megastar and now I see how close I was to capturing Uranus in the photo, as you noted. You were, of course, right on the money that I just wanted to tease all the conjunction photo enthusiasts out there (I painstakingly hid Uranus behind a small shrub atop a boulder in the V of the cliff). I think I missed Neptune, too, but only because the exposure time was just barely too short. By comparing the field with Megastar, it looks as if my shot shows stars only to about 6.2 - 6.5 mag or so. Neptune is at about 6.8. OK, with some averted imagination, maybe I see it. Take a look at the following comparison chart where I circled what I believe to be the location of the planets and see if it makes sense (I hope I got this right): http://www.pbase.com/bsanden/image/64923532 As far as other hikers on the trail, I left the top at 10pm and even the last stragglers were up and out by then, so I saw no other humans while I was in the Canyon (between 10pm and 2am). By the way, Geoff Babcock just reminded me about the Perseids next weekend. Even though the moon will be rising at 9:30pm or so (and therefore ~80% illuminated) I think Cedar Ridge would still be a unique location to watch the show. So it may be a good weekend for any considering one of these moonlit hikes. It's out of the question for me...I can't afford another $90 round-trip gas expense on back-to-back weekends. Thx, Bernie -----Original Message----- From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rick Scott Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 8:58 PM To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: Moonlit Canyon photos Hi Bernie, Nice shots! Even though you went solo, were there other hikers on the trail? Do you realize that on your photo "A view back up the trail from Ooh-Aah Point" that you missed having Uranus by just a hairs width? Look just above center, in the V-shaped notch in the rocks. There's a bright star (Lambda Aquarii) toward the right side of the notch and three fainter stars in at a 45 degree angle toward the left side. If you imagine those star making the upper part of a diamond shape (45 degree rotated square), then Uranus is at the bottom completing the diamond just below the edge of the rock. I'm sure you knew that and just wanted to tease us. Here's something else to mention about that photograph. It you go to the brightest star down the right side from the top, you can see that it's the beginning of a line of four bright stars going down to the left with the last two being closer than the others. The second star down from the upper right is Neptune! See ya, Rick -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.