Hey Ray....
Nice job! I'll soon start on my version.
One of my favorite memories was the Collowara (properly pronounced
"coyo-wara" ... to continue a debate from the trip) Observatory. How we
were chasing clear skies by following the three Chileno amateur astronomers
driving ahead of us, up the mountain, popping out of the clouds to our
first dark skies... driving through the town of Andocollo... seemingly
deserted after dark other than the donkeys milling around on the sidewalk
by the church... thinking to myself "where the hell are we going" as the
road turned to dirt and the steepness of the grade up the mountain
increased... then, seeing the beautiful architecture of that public
observatory (here's the page, for those who haven't looked
http://www.collowara.cl/presenta2.htm ) silhouetted against the blackness
of the sky as well pulled up, then....
Stepping out of the van, looking up, and getting that first view of the LMC
and SMC... surrounded by the wild star patterns of a sky without known
constellations - new territory for all us Norte Americanos!
Even the drive back to El Punto was an adventure :-)
A night to remember... what a trip... I want to go back!
Mark
At 4/24/2005, you wrote:
>I put two webpages together. One is basically observing notes, the other
>is more vacation pics and commentary designed to lure others to this
>fantastic place. These may be modified, first drafts, really. They can be
>found on my Deep-Sky Page:
><http://members.aol.com/anonglxy/deepsky.htm>http://members.aol.com/anonglxy/deepsky.htm
>Just look for the twirlin' "New" buttons.
>
>Ray Cash
Received on Tue Apr 26 10:02:09 2005