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Stargazing Event - Interest Level? |
Yes - Let's stargaze |
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No Interest |
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21% |
[ 5 ] |
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Total Votes : 23 |
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desertgirl
Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 3:20 pm Post subject: Stargazing Event - Interest Level? |
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We have some accomplished astronomers among our kind here...Wondering if there is enough interest in a sky viewing on a dark night somewhere near town ?
Post your interest level _________________ Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream! |
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Hikngrl Canyoneering is my 'Happy Place'
Joined: 27 May 2003 Posts: 5578 Location: Peoria, AZ
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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I'm thinkin that if you are near town you are not gonna see much. Too much light. _________________ ~~~Diane~~~
I want to shine! |
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Trishness The Snake Charmer
Joined: 21 Sep 2003 Posts: 2530 Location: Apache Jct, AZ
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe come out to AJ/Gold Canyon to do star gazing.......only 30 minutes from Mesa/Tempe. I've had some problems stargazing with extraneous lights in my backyard but if I go around the corner on Baseline/Idaho Road, it's pretty decent.
Maybe we could make this an event of some kind?
_________________ ~~~Trish~~~
"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings. |
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azhiker96
Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1419
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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I'm betting we can get some shielding from the Phoenix lights at the Peralta TH. _________________ It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -- Carl Sagan |
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Trishness The Snake Charmer
Joined: 21 Sep 2003 Posts: 2530 Location: Apache Jct, AZ
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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George,
The stars are amazing at LDSP and at Hieroglyphics TH at the end of Kings Ranch Road too!!!
_________________ ~~~Trish~~~
"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings. |
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wanderingsoul
Joined: 19 Jul 2004 Posts: 2285 Location: Gilbert AZ
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I'm interested. Couple of times I drove out towards Usary Park and parked car along the side of the road in early morn hours to watch meteor showers. Would be better to be somewhere else than along side of the road. _________________ Wanderingsoul (Michelle)
Positive Thinking Is the Spark that Makes Dreams Happen~~~Unknown |
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IGO
Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 4144 Location: Las Vegas
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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I love star gazing. Might I suggest Hualapai Mountain Park summit in Kingman. I know it's too far away but I've seen a few stars from up there. _________________ "Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir |
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threedogz
Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 668 Location: Chandler
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Posted: 2/5/2007, 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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This would be great, I am a big fan of Carl Sagan... count me in.
I'm not sure if I would drive to Kingman for stars, the only thing I do in Kingman is use the restroom and fill up for gas.
I'd like to go to the observatory in Tucson as well, they have tours for visitors. _________________ You can never eat too much candy... |
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jmzblond J Me
Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 1114 Location: Chandler, AZ
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 8:51 am Post subject: |
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I'm always interested. _________________ Blond, James Blond... double "O", uh oh!!
"The romantic lifestyle of goats leaves a lot of time for digesting books" Charlotte La Chevre, (taken from "Conversations With A Goat" by Robert Shekter) |
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kurthzone Thread Killer
Joined: 31 Dec 2002 Posts: 1097 Location: Peoria, Arizona
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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Sounds like fun to me! Just let me know when and where.
Anyone who has backpacked with me can most likely tell you how to find the only galaxy visible with the human eye (at least under good viewing conditions). They would tell you that it is halfway between the most proximate points of Pegasus and Cassiopeia. Without doing an internet search, can anyone name that galaxy and what kind of galaxy it is? _________________ ;o)> |
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Antares
Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Orion arm, third rock from the Sun
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Stan, most likely you are referring to the Andromeda galaxy (object #31 in Charles Messier's catalog). It is the nearest large spiral galaxy... and it's only a mere 2.2 light years away in the constellation of Andromeda.
But, if you get out to a truly dark site you can also see the Triangulum galaxy naked-eye (M33). It's another spiral galaxy, but it is quite large and viewed nearly face-on from our location - hence it is very diffuse.
The Andromeda galaxy, on the other hand, is viewed much closer to edge-on.
Peter |
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Antares
Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Orion arm, third rock from the Sun
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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It does look like we have some interest in this activity. Ambika's suggestion likely came from our conversation on the Picketpost hike.
I can bring my telescope, but I need a fairly easily-accessed site, as I haul it around in a 5x8 trailer.
The sites I normally use are in the area west of Phoenix, between Gila Bend and Yuma - about 30 miles east of the middle of nowhere. That's nice and dark, probably around a Bortle class 2 sky. In warmer weather I use a spot near Happy Jack, not far from the site of the Discovery Channel Telescope. That's a Bortle class 1 sky.
I know of some sites we can use where we could also camp.
I have set up in the lot at Picketpost trailhead before, but lately its been home to a few campers.
I also have another suggestion. This one wouldn't involve any camping, but it might be more convenient for attendees. I may be able to arrange use of the lower (gravel) parking lot at Boyce Thompson Arboretum for such an event.
If we do hold such an event combined with camping, we would have to refrain from any campfires as I can't have any fire anywhere near the optics. The other issue at a stargazing event is that we would refrain from using any white light. It takes the better part of an hour to become dark adapted, but it only takes a second of white light to take it away. Red light is much easier on the eyes in this regard.
Right now, Saturn is nicely placed for viewing around midnight or 1:00 am. In another month it will be situated nicely for observation around 10 or 11 pm. Saturn is always quite a sight to behold.
Naturally, there are lots of interesting objects outside of our solar system too... galaxies, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, etc.
Peter |
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kurthzone Thread Killer
Joined: 31 Dec 2002 Posts: 1097 Location: Peoria, Arizona
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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Antares wrote: |
Stan, most likely you are referring to the Andromeda galaxy (object #31 in Charles Messier's catalog). It is the nearest large spiral galaxy... and it's only a mere 2.2 light years away in the constellation of Andromeda.
But, if you get out to a truly dark site you can also see the Triangulum galaxy naked-eye (M33). It's another spiral galaxy, but it is quite large and viewed nearly face-on from our location - hence it is very diffuse.
The Andromeda galaxy, on the other hand, is viewed much closer to edge-on.
Peter |
You are correct sir! I didn't know about M33. _________________ ;o)> |
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evenstar
Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Truth is, the our nearest galaxy is our own Milky Way....a Spiral Galaxy where upon we reside on the outskirts, so to speak.....like Globe to Phoenix proper.
Used to love to camp out in my backyard as a kid in Fresno, CA at night and see this broad band of stars stretch across the sky. Now, of course, if you're anywhere near a large, or even a small, city you're lucky to see any stars at all. Camped with my dad off the Stanislaus River in the Sierras every August 'til 1998 and would wake in the middle of the night to pee; loved to look up and see the milky way and stars so bright at that altitude.....of course, had to put my glasses on not only to see the stars, but to keep from walking off the river bank into the river! _________________ John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902 |
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Antares
Joined: 30 Nov 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Orion arm, third rock from the Sun
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Posted: 2/6/2007, 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, our solar system is situated within the Orion arm of the spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. Our home galaxy is the second largest in the Local Group (after the aforementioned Andromeda galaxy), and we are located about 28,000 light years from the core.
Oops... just noticed an omission in an earlier post. The Andromeda galaxy is 2.2 million light years away... but what's a bunch of zeros between friends. |
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