[AZ-Observing] The Prophet Coe
- From: pulind@xxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:59:53 -0500 (EST)
There was a big group at the Antennas site on Thursday and Friday and for the
first time in many months I was observing visually with my 14". We were having
a great time standing around yakking, and Steve Coe told the story of helping a
guy get his scope ready for observing -- a scope that had been idle for a long
time. Apparently the guy's mirror was so thick with dirt that Steve was sure
it could support plant life. Well, I didn't think much about it. -- THEN, a
couple hours later I was struggling to see 12th and 13th magnitude Herschel II
stuff, and just gave up. I told some of those nearby that seriously, I must
be getting cataracts or some other malady of the eyes. I even consulted with
Joe Goss about those objects. Oh yes, he'd observed all that stuff easily in
his 14". -- I climbed into my sleeping bag depressed.
Back in Phoenix Saturday afternoon I remembered Steve's story and took a look
at the mirror. Damned if it wasn't ready to support plant-life! It had that
reddish-brown Arizona color to it. There was at least a full magnitude of
obscuring dust (It's clean now). I guess I hadn't cleaned it since that big
"Haboob" storm went through - the time I left the garage door open.
In conclusion: Steve Coe is some sort of medium. He was standing right next
to my scope when he told the story and may have picked up dirt vibrations.
Paul
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