see question below. I can write to him what I have written before to other people about: 1) suggested dark sky sites, 2) not to go alone but to bring a friend or two, and 3) if we have any star parties during the person's planned visit.
but - he is also asking about how to deal with "critters". has anyone had a problem with wildlife (especially the creeply crawly kind) at dark sky sites, and what is the best way to deal with them?
----- Original Message ----- From: <timo.nousiainen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <Astronomy-Questions@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 1:24 AM Subject: question about observations Dear Receiver, I'm planning to visit the Arizona region (Grand Canyon area) this Spring and, since I am an amateur astronomer myself, I thought to take with my my camera and my binoculars. I would assume that the area would be very good for visual observations and photography (high altitude, little or no light pollution). It has been a long time since I last saw the stars in a truly dark place, and I'm looking forward to remedy this during my trip. My one concern is the safety. I mean, in Finland, where I come from, we don't have to worry about snakes and such, but I assume this is not the case in Arizona. Especially in the desert, there could be all kinds of dangerous animans around, and I cannot make a fire, for example, to keep them away if I want my eyes to adapt properly. I was wondering if you could help me what to do about that. Are there specific spots in the area that would be safe? Are there some arrangements that could be made to keep the snakes, scorpions or whaterver nasty monsters you have there away? I expect to spend about three nights in the area, starting from Phoenix and then visiting Flagstaff, Page, and the Canyon. Hopefully at least one of the nights would be cloudfree. Any suggestions for places to go near these places? Yours sincerely, -- Timo Nousiainen Department of Physics P.O. Box 48 FI-00014 University of Helsinki Finland
