[AZ-Observing] Re: Observing Report - GCSP South Rim - Day 8 - The Weather Hammer Falls
- From: Joe Bergeron <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:17:09 -0700
Jim, I meant to walk up to your table in the cafe this morning to thank you for
your star party efforts (especially noteworthy since you weren't feeling well),
but you bailed a moment before I finished what I was doing. So, permit me to
offer my thanks and appreciation now.
On Jun 13, 2010, at 6:12 PM, skylook123@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Grand Canyon Star Party South Rim - DAY EIGHT - The Weather Hammer Falls
> Location: Yavapai Point Observing Station, South Rim of Grand Canyon, AZ,
> about 340 miles north of home in Tucson, about 7000 ft elevation
>
> Weather: 40s at sunset, falling into 30s by 9 PM. Some early sucker holes in
> the west at sundown slammed shut by 8:15 PM. Then some intermittent rain
> sprinkles. Pretty much a lost evening.
>
> Seeing and Transparency: None. Overcast with heavy rain clouds
>
> Equipment:
> Golf umbrella
>
> The bad upper respiratory bug set in with a vengeance. Even if the sky was
> clear, no setup for me tonight.
>
> We had a nice pot luck lunch at Chuck Wahler's home. After retiring as a
> Ranger, he is back at the Grand Canyon as a contractor working on education
> programs (I think!) and still lives at the park, in a different house. It is
> always a pleasure to meet with the volunteers away from the battleground.
> Highlight for me was drafting Robert Lofquist, Bill and Mary's grandson
> visiting for the week, to draw two names for door prizes offered by the Royal
> Astronomical Society of Canada. Robert has been helping us by handing out
> star maps at the evening talks, along with Audra Anderson the first three
> nights. Erich Karkoshka won the 2011 Observer's Handbook, and Jerry Fennema
> won the 2011 Observer's Calendar. I donated the 2010 sample versions of the
> two to Marker Marshall for use in her Starry Starry Nights Ranger talks.
>
> A few hearty folk were hoping for the best as the swirling sky seemed to open
> a bit to the west near sundown. I was hoping the coroner could start on his
> autopsy and rid me of the bad cold. I think I've already lost both lungs,
> what else could there be?
>
> Our night talk crowd was sparse, maybe 50 or 60, and Sara Meschberger
> valiantly performed her Preserving The Night Sky presentation. As is usual on
> these adventures in the cold and wind, the pointing devices refused to
> cooperate so I sat UNDER the table and flipped the slides through for her.
> Her talk was a concise motivation to not lose the night sky for future
> generations. At the end, I tried to fill some time with an overview of what
> could be seen in the night sky, but around slide five the sprinkles started
> so we abandoned ship. We were back in the room by 9PM so I could look for the
> missing lung.
>
> So, now we're home. All in all, a remarkable week of great conversations,
> education opportunities, and expanding horizons for several thousand visitors
> over the week. Through the week we had 75 volunteers turn in service sheets,
> and they did yeoman duty with making each contact with a visitor a special
> moment. Today, as we dropped off some of the visitor log sheets from other
> observers at Ranger Headquarters, we were told that visitors had been coming
> in all week to thank the Park for the event. And we got stopped on the way
> back to our truck by four individuals who told us that they came up to both
> final nights of bad weather just because the volunteer astronomers were so
> informative and helpful even without a sky to work with. WAY TO GO!!!
>
>
> Jim O'Connor
> South Rim Coordinator
> Grand Canyon Star Party
> gcsp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please
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>
>
Joe Bergeron
Fellow, International Association of Astronomical Artists
http://www.joebergeron.com
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