Re: ER: GSSP 2008

Mark Wagner wrote:
> Everyone goes primarily for the skies. Each night condition
> progressively improved. Saturday, although (blessedly) cloudy all
> day, cleared out shortly after astronomical dark, giving us a very
> dark and transparent sky. Without resorting to the use of "squirrel
> meters - SQMs, I can say the only thing standing between us and the
> sort of dazzling skies I saw last year during the site survey, was
> some smoke haze. Still, it was so transparent that on Saturday night,
> as I was observing with Steve Gottlieb on his 18" Dob, his custom
> printed charts were not deep enough for what we were picking out, most
> notably in Abell 2256 (centered on NGC 6331). We had to fire up my
> laptop and use MegaStar to confirm or place dim galaxies that were at
> the threshold. I'm sure Steve will go into the details. But I
> believe if the skies go deeper than what Steve prepares for, we're
> doing pretty good.
>

hear here! indeed, skies were absolutely awesome saturday.

>
> - Yea, Though I Walk Through The Valley Of Shadow Of -
>
> The Dobs.... I felt small and almost insignificant with my 18"
> Obsession. Our little "corner lot" had a 30", two 25's, a 22" and 2
> 20's. I was reintroduced to the concept of humility. The last night
> I found it totally unnecessary to uncover my little telescope!
>
yes, Grand Central Station for big dobs, no doubt.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jhn.pierce/GSSP2008/photo#5220120579997133954

>
> - Community Within And Around -
>
> I was tremendously impressed with what a fine, considerate, helpful
> group amateur astronomers are. Everybody was friendly, cooperative,
> and understanding. When our shower truck was called away to support
> the firefighters, the GSSP's backup, which we though we'd never need
> but should plan anyway, worked great. The Beiber High School showers
> were very welcome, and got us out into that town, whereas if the truck
> was available, most of the traffic would have been into Adin. Still,
> the folks at Adin Supply were welcoming and gracious, and if you
> didn't realize it, they catered our Friday night dinner. I was
> pleased to hear that they saw significant benefit from our visit. I
> also *thoroughly* enjoyed the Albaugh family's "Ranch Days" event on
> Saturday. Those who went (and you *all* should) were treated to
> displays of products we all use daily that are supplied by
> rancher/farmers like the Albaughs. There was a man named "Buck" who
> was teaching how to rope a steer - with some horns attached to a small
> bale of hay about ten feet away - he called it the dummy, but after I
> had trouble "ropin" it, and a seven year old local walked up and
> showed everyone how to do it, I felt like the dummy (and enjoyed
> it!). It was very nice of the Albaughs and neighbors to create a GSSP
> brand! The Frosty Acres brand will be on the GSSP web-site soon, but
> the one they made for us was used to burn into about a 10 inch
> diameter piece of log we cut individually with a long lumber saw. ...

the saw...
http://picasaweb.google.com/jhn.pierce/GSSP2008/photo#5220122575357566994

and my daughter Sarah displaying her GSSP brand...
http://picasaweb.google.com/jhn.pierce/GSSP2008/photo#5220122808004333154

I particularlly enjoyed the hayride, which was much more than
expected. we were given a tour of the farm facilities, the 1880s barn
built by shipmakers who came up to Adin during an extended shipyard
strike in SF, the old horse-drawn tools they still use when tractors
just get in the way, the gravity water distribution system, not a single
pump on the entire ranch. They have flooded a field and are growing
seed stock for wild rice, which they hope to sell in the future (that
wild rice salad they served saturday night was awesome!)

> The most outstanding aspect of the community "around" us though, was
> our wonderful hosts, and their friends. Warm, welcoming people who
> you immediately feel a kinship to, and know you've found "the genuine
> article". From Barbara "mom" Albaugh to Becky, Helen and their
> friends, the women are beautiful, intelligent and healthy looking -
> the life there unquestionably agrees with them. Dale Albaugh, the
> patriarch, has lived in Adin since 1937, and along with sons Aaron and
> Andy, combine a sophistication and true "rugged" western look that is
> a piece of American heritage lost to many of us. What a treat to have
> been there, with these people, over 4th of July!
>

the ranch and surrounding area reminded me of the better parts of rural
New Hampshire or Vermont, except the folks were way more friendly (ok,
New Englanders can be downright ornery around strangers, but its mostly
a game, get to know them and they'd go through the gates of hell to
rescue you).

> Speed limits. The only dust we had on-site was from vehicular
> traffic, especially along the long road running north south bordered
> by the bathrooms. We need a speed limit no faster than walking. That
> will go a huge way in controlling dust. If you noticed, even with the
> strong afternoon breezes, dust did not kick up. It was only cars,
> trucks and RVs "churning" it by driving too fast. Hey, what's the
> rush anyway, right? Slow down!
>

I have to say, driving my big van, even when I locked it down in 1st
gear, the idle speed was still TOO HIGH. I had to ride my brakes to
keep it down to zero dust.

hey, whatever happened to that rice-starch(?) based anti-dust spray you
guys were going to use at Shingletown a couple years ago?

> Grass length. With warm weather, we all would prefer to be in shorts
> and sandals. But that heritage wheat grass can be tough on the legs.
> It was upwards of 12 inches long this year. We expected it would be
> mowed, but the Albaugh's felt it was not too long, and left it. Live
> and learn, everyone's intentions were good. Next year a shorter grass
> would be helpful.

I'm thinking packing a old fashion scythe and whacking the area
immediately around me might not be a bad thing.

> Hospitality Tents. More of them - expand the size. Move them
> centrally along the western edge of the star party.

or at least encourage people to camp closer to them. a sign right
after them on the 'road' that says "begin camping area" might help.

>
> Light Attenuation. While the local lighting on the horizon was mostly
> a non-issue when we are concentrating at the eyepiece, we can reduce
> it by having the RVs line up north south along the west side of the
> main road. This was our original plan, but the RVs surprised us by
> congregating en-masse to the north. By having them line up, not only
> would they provide additional light shielding, but those folks would
> be closer to the rest of the observers on the field, which would be nice.
>

For myself, when I arrived with my popup tent trailer, I started down
the road looking for something resembling an organized row of RVs and
realized it was pretty scattered, so I looped around and parked where I
did, not too far from the 2nd set of portapotties.... this was a OK
spot for me. I can see someone with a full sized rig not wanting to
turn around and just staying down where they are when they come to the
same conclusion. ditto my sign suggestion, a sign on the left that
says "BEGIN RV CAMPING AREA" and maybe a bit more of that yellow caution
tape marking out the start of the RV area ?

> Activities. Kites, we have a great venue for kite flying. A natural
> activity there. We should encourage responsible kite flying. We also
> found people interested in the Scrabble games going on near my
> campsite. We might have daily round-robin Scrabble games. More
> speakers, something that people seem to enjoy, so let's do more.
> Movies - - - something many star parties offer if we get skunked one
> or more nights - we can do them in the hospitality tent. Other
> suggestions? Ideas are certainly welcome.
>

make those HIGH WIND kites. many kites were being beat up pretty hard
by those strong winds in the afternoon. box kites would be a good choice.

my popup tent trailer was just about perpendicular to the strong winds,
which caused it to develop a rather distinct lean... next time I'm
going to try parking it so its in line with the wind as I suspect its
stronger front to rear... even my nailed down 10x10 easy-up style
awning was leaning some, guy lines might help that, too. I couldn't
secure anything to it as wind shielding as it was blowing SO hard on the
west edge of the area.

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