I have been scouting some observing sites southeast of the metropolitan area (I
live in SE Chandler). I went back to two of them this week to see how dark
they really are.
* Last night I went to a site located at N 32â° 52.259á´µ, W 110â°
53.016á´µ. It is a remote parking spot for access to the Arizona Trail at the
end of passage 14. Get there by going south on Rt 79 from Florence. The Tom
Mix memorial is on the west side between mile marker 115 and 116. Very shortly
after that there is a left turn (east) on to Freeman Road. It is a dirt road
but in good condition. Travel 19 miles and the parking area is on the left
hand side (north) immediately after mile marker 19. It is on top of a ridge so
there are essentially unobstructed views for all 360 degrees around the site.
The light domes from Tucson and Phoenix come above the horizon but neither is
an issue. According to the AZ Trail map it is about 4100 feet elevation. Very
nice dark sky, good Milky Way from horizon to horizon. I used a Sky Quality
Meter (www.unihedron.com <http://www.unihedron.com> ) to measure sky brightness
as 21.6 and 21.8 visual magnitude per square arcsecond before the moon came up.
I saw zero cars or people for the 19 mile drive on the dirt road and the
entire time I was out there so donât break down. Long drive but a good dark
site.
* The other site I went to this week is near an old BLM camp located
approximately at N 32.8, W 111.0 which was plenty dark but had way too many
bees. I didnât think bees came out at night but they do. Supposedly all AZ
bees are Africanized to some extent. This location is too dangerous unless you
want to rent a bee suit.
I like the first site. If interested in going there let me know and I will go
along.
Rob
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