New Mexico Skies Astro-Photography trip 2003

New Mexico Skies May 23-June 6, 2003

Immediately after our Chiefland trip in February 2002, the guys started talking about a desert southwest trip.  We began to investigate sites and chose New Mexico Skies (NMS) as our destination.  New Mexico Skies is the leader in remote and destination astroimaging for the amateur.  Please see their website for the impressive list of imaging equipment on hand for users to rent on a nightly basis.  In addition to the fine astronomical equipment, NMS has a complete library with internet access via desktops or wireless connection via your personal laptop.  The library is also host to the midnight cappuccino treats-mmmmm.

The group started with Kirk Rogers, George Whitney, Warren Keller, and me, but that would soon change.  I believe we had at least 9 guys in the clubhouse at NMS each night of the 2 weeks of our stay.  It was a great group and "momma Whitney" made sure all of the fraternity boys were well fed and well behaved.  Thanks "momma Whitney."  Can you believe this?  After changing travel plans many times, the final plan called for George and Warren to drive out a truck towing our equipment in a trailer.  Wow, this permitted the rest of the group to fly to El Paso.  We are eternally indebted to George and Warren for the trek cross-country.  In some ways, I feel like I missed a unique opportunity in that truck.  Many images on this page are courtesy of Ernie Mastroanni, Kirk Rogers, or Joe Schaefer.  Thanks guys. 

We had a little turnover of imagers/observers from week one to week two.  States that were represented were West Virginia, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Massachusetts.  

Week one group from left to right.  

Back row standing:  Jeff Ball, George Whitney, Kirk Rogers, George Walker, and Saul.  

Front row kneeling:  Ernie Mastroanni, Joe Schaefer, and Warren Keller

Image courtesy Ernie Mastroanni

Matt BenDaniel explored the imaging potential of the tremendous on-site equipment at NMS.  Matt is in the FCT150 dome with Mike Rice, owner of NMS.  Matt captured some wonderful star trail shots at night and hummingbird shots in the daytime.  Check them out here.

The imaging area at NMS is loose gravel with 2 concrete pads.  Mike Rice shared with us that our group was the largest single group of imagers in the history of NMS.  Two or three more concrete pads would be a nice addition to the area.  We made do with patio blocks nestled down into the gravel and that proved to be stable for imaging.  There are two power poles at the back of the area which provided plenty of power for our setups.  Horizons are adequate for imaging at any elevation one would desire.  You may be mindful of a tree on the backside that could possibly interfere with sighting polaris through a polarscope during your initial polar alignment for the evening.  

George Whitney with a wonderful setup for photography with an AP 155EDF, AP Traveler, and two Bronica cameras all on an Astro-Physics 1200 mount.  George shoots with medium format Pentax through the scopes and an ST10XME.

Kirk Rogers shows off his AP1200 with AP 130EDT, Takahashi FSQ 106, and Pentax medium format camera bodies with lenses for wide field imaging.  

Warren Keller does wonderful work with his GM8, Intes MK69 f6, and Nikon camera lenses.  You can see some of Warren's work featured at the Intes MK69 site here.

Joe Schaefer images with a Takahashi FS128, a Nikon camera and lenses with an Orion guidescope on an Astro-Physics 900 GOTO mount.

Image courtesy of Ernie Mastroanni

"Little Robbie Burgess."  Yep, not too many people have a theme song, but you could hear Robbie's song echoing in the Sacramento mountains at night.  Unfortunately, the weather never really allowed Rob to use the big dobsonian seen here.  Rob was great company for a bunch of stressed out astroimagers. 

Image courtesy Kirk Rogers

Dave Shimek ready to observe with his dobsonian.  Dave drove in with Kurt Amuedo from St. Louis, MO.  Check out Dave's images from the trip here.

Image courtesy of Joe Schaefer

My original plan was to shoot with this setup with the Traveler and Pentax 300mm lens on a side-by-side plate.  I felt this was just a little too much for the 600 mount and switched to just the Traveler alone.  Now I have a 900 mount and can image with the side-by-side configuration with no trouble.  Skies looked promising this day, but as you know, clear skies in the day only get worse as night falls.  

Image courtesy Kirk Rogers

Once again, the Astroglide team had a great time.  It is wonderful fellowship doing what we love best.  Rumblings of next year's trip have begun.  Chile?  Sunglow Ranch?  Spruceknob, WV?  Stay tuned.

The Storm-AAhh, Spring in New Mexico

The weather numbers were 5 out of 16 nights were photographic in that one could image all night with one night extremely dewy.  The first few days were mired in a stagnant pattern of cloud formation coming from the southeast.  The pattern brought to us a delightful spring hail storm, the likes of which I have never seen.  A few of us were in the truck on the way to Alamogordo for shopping when it hit.  A conversation was hard to hold inside the car with the pelting hail cracking on the metal.  We were literally riding on a coat of hail 1" thick on the road.  Ernie and I began to consider driving westward into Arizona.  The weather pattern was stagant over New Mexico.  So on day 3, Ernie and I pulled out for Sunglow Ranch, AZ.  The images below capture the resulting ice cover after the hail storm.  A truly unique experience.  Not to be outdone, Kirk and George were nearly fried by a lightening strike.  Warning: exercise great caution at high altitudes when severe weather is in the area.  After this pattern broke, we experienced four straight nights of excellent skies.  A new pattern settled in that saw convection run amuck.  Low level moisture was rising at night and cooling forming clouds throughout the majority of the night.  Unfortunately, we lost the entire second week of imaging to clouds. 

Black Forest Star Party 2002

Dave Barrett of High Point Scientific with his Tectron 24" scope.  Dave always provides some of the most incredible views at a starparty.  I will never forget the H2 regions in M33, the spiral arms of NGC 6946, and the Horsehead nebula.  Dave has his scope performing at maximum potential.  Amazing real-time images.  Thanks Dave!

Black Forest Star Party 2002 (extended)

Sept. 4-9, 2002

Another great Blackforest Starparty.  Attendance continues to increase with a reported 450+ for 2002.  Skies were great to fair on the 4 nights I was there.  If you could have extended your stay, skies were great until Wednesday morning.  The trees lining the state highway are a very nice addition.  I encourage all who partake of the Cherry Springs park to consider supporting the Cherry Springs fund.  More information at Gary Honis's webpage.

For more details on the event and site see the official website at  http://www.bfsp.org/starparty/

The Aurora

The week had already been quite nice, but Saturday was shaping up to be " the night."   I was moving to a more northern photographic target, when just as twilight started to wane I noticed a brightening in the north.  I knew this was not a man-made light source.  I said to my photographic friends, "Bummer, we have an aurora tonight."  At first it was an undifferentiated green glow on the northern horizon, but by around 9:00 p.m., the show began.  Most of the intensity was in the northwest in Ursa Major.  Reds, blues, greens, bright white pillars, by far the best show I have ever seen.  Ooohs and aahhs reminiscent of Independence Day fireworks rose up from the observing field.  This was an ideal aurora, intensely bright and then diminishing before the photographic window was open<g>  The aurora persisted in the north until around 2:00 a.m. with occasional brightening.  At the peak, the aurora easily extended into Lyra near the zenith.  What an amazing show!

Mike Peoples of Highpoint Scientific selling an astro-accessory

BFSP provides a great opportunity to learn from some of the best in the hobby.  Whether it is film photography, CCD, digital camera, deep sky observing, or naked eye observing - you can find a knowledgeable person on your subject of interest.  For me, it is great to see friends found through astronomy and often times through the Blackforest.  I hope to return to Cherry Springs in the late spring of 2003.  See you then!

Laurel Highlands Star Cruise 2002

Artwork by Chris Oyster on Thursday night during the heavy rain.  His hopes were realized over the next two nights!

Turn to the Dark Side, my young apprentice

(a.k.a.) The Laurel Highlands Star Cruise

June 6-9, 2002

Opinion paragraph first<g>

I have never seen a harder working starparty crew than the one at Laurel Highlands Star Party.  Terry Trees, Larry McHenry, Ed Moss, John Holtz, and many others have developed this event into a premier week-long starparty.  They are not content with the current status.  They are continually seeking out ideas and suggestions for improving the event.  This year, there were many competing starparty events.  I have not attended the New Jersey event, but I have attended the Mason Dixon event.  If you want dark skies and a starparty, it seems to me that Laurel Highlands is your best bet for the spring in the east.   Formal presentations began on Wednesday and concluded on Saturday.  Observing began as early as Monday.  Many of these activities are children events.  I don't believe any event in the east offers programming to that extent.  Perhaps the Winter Star Party.  Is it a perfect sky?  No.  There is a light dome to the northwest from Uniontown.  It is summer, who cares about the northwest?  The summer Milky Way was breathtaking.  You can read my observation report below for more details.  Granted, Spruce Knob has a better total sky,  but if you are wanting to combine a great weekend of observing/photography at a DARK site with a group of amateurs who share your passion for astronomy,  Laurel Highlands Star Cruise serves as the standard to beat in the east coast for the spring/summer season.  Black Forest is the place to be in the east for the fall schedule of starparties.  

Camp:

The OVAS campsite on Saturday night

Observing/Astrophotography equipment in the camp: 20" Obsession, TV102, 10" Cave Astrola, AP 130EDT, TV101, 4" reflector, TV85,  Fuji 7x50.

WE WON, again: Our winnings weren't as big as last year, but our camp did well with respect to door prizes.  Chris O won the Orion case, Dave T won the planisphere, and I won the set of Night Sky Observer's guide.  I can't express how useful this book is to astrophotographers.  

Justin (left) and Rodger Blake with their 20" Obsession.  Outstanding views were had with this instrument!

Best Views:  during my imaging sessions I get to sneak wonderful views from others.  Thanks a bunch to all who shared wonderful views!

• Marla, Dave, and Evan Tolley with the TV101 ready for some prime focus photography

The Site: Pine Hill campground near Bruceton Mills, WV

Pine Hill is located about 10 minutes off of I-68 which runs just below the Mason-Dixon line. The elevation at the site is around 2,200 feet. It is a beautiful forested area with Morgantown the nearest city of consequence about 30 miles to the west.

Limiting Magnitude- Sky background flux of 70:  Now that I have begun imaging with CCD,   I can utilize technology in quantifying our sky conditions at Laurel Highlands.  I took background measurements on Saturday night.  Friday night was a little more transparent, but turbulent conditions prohibited imaging with CCD.  Here is a link to the mathematical calculations and theory behind the technique.  A special thanks to Stan Moore for making the webpage available!

http://home.earthlink.net/~stanleymm/StandardBackground.html

The numbers according to my camera (ST10e) have a background flux of 70.  That seems to compare very favorably with some of the darker imaging sites in the California mountain ranges.  

Light domes: There is one noticeable light dome to the north-northwest that is from the Uniontown area.  It rises no more than 15 degrees above the horizon and was not significant in any way.  75% of the sky is excellent.  The southern sky is gorgeous.

Chris and Larry Oyster with the TV102.  Larry observed some very dim objects courtesy of the outstanding skies at Laurel Highlands

Laurel Highlands Star Cruise: The Event

The field: The observing field is quite large and has plenty of room for more participants. It provides excellent horizons. There is no electricity on the field, however.  The bathhouses are located in the main camping area, which is about .3 miles away. It is a nice walk or a short drive. The bathhouses are comfortable and convenient. The field can accommodate large RV’s. The organizers sectioned off the entire field with observing spaces that were quite large. This really added structure to the field and provided defined areas for foot and vehicular traffic. The heavy rains on Thursday really created a mud-bog on Friday.  The hot Sun and gentle wind dried the field much quicker than I ever would have expected.  I feared that the ground moisture was going to lead to ground fog on Friday night.  The sky could not have been clearer on Friday night.  We were very relieved.

Chris Oyster presents his 4" reflector to the group touring unique telescopes.  This is a reflector of unknown make that has been refurbished and painted and gave some pretty nice views. 

Don Kemper relaxing at the rocket launches

Food was catered by a local deli shop.  The food was prepared off-site and brought to the campground.  Mealtimes were relatively fixed.  Snacks were available until around 11:00 p.m.  The food was very good.  Not as convenient as having May's around at all hours of the night, but I certainly did not go "without" when it came to food.  Very nice caterer and I am sure they learned a lot about planning food for a starparty.

Rodger Blake and the OVAS crew "man" rocket launch pad #6 on Saturday

The door prizes just keep getting better.  Two telescopes and a 16mm Nagler type 5 were the big ones I remember.  I did win the prize I wanted most, the Night Sky Observers Guide.  The Pittsburgh group continues to build this event.  I believe the event attendance was a little under 300.  Please see their website for future dates.  I believe they have moved from the new Moon date on Memorial weekend next year to later in June.  This works well for me-I get to go to New Mexico skies for Memorial Weekend next year!  

Chris Oyster under a brand new D&G 10" refractor.  Cool, huh?

Chiefland Astro-Photo trip 2002

Manatee surface for air at Manatee Springs State park, nearby to Chiefland Astronomy Village.

The astrophotography trip was a great time of fellowship with friends.  Unfortunately, the days were beautiful and the nights were not.  Nightfall always seemed to bring in some haze/clouds.  The clouds would drift in from all directions.  It was a very frustrating trip.  Next year-Arizona!!! 

Fun and frolic at Manatee Springs.  The water was very clear at the mouth of the spring.  

A big 'thanks" to my father-in-law, a.k.a. the papinator.  With no astronomical interest, he accompanied me on the trip to beautiful Chiefland, FL.  He got to know the folks at Wal-Mart quite well:-)

Kirk Rogers made the trek from Maine.  Kirk has the AP130/TakFS 102 and numerous camera bodies on the MI250 mount.

George Whitney accompanied Kirk from Maine.  It looks like he knows what he is doing, but he really doesn't:-)

Warren Keller..he's our feller.  The New Jersey native headed south for some astrophotography with his Mak-Cass and Nikon 300mm lens.  He caught some very nice shots considering the conditions.

Black Forest Star Party 2001

Black Forest Star Party 2001 (extended)

Sept. 12-17-2001

The Central Pennsylvania Observers hosted the BFSP 2001.  Attendance was listed at around 400!  Weather was great on 4 out of 5 nights.  What a great trip!  Everything was there for both visual and astro-imager.  Here are some of my memories of the week.

1. CSSP is an outstanding dark sky location. 
2. The new showers at Ole Bull State Park (about 20 minutes away) are awesome.  I thought I would never say that a $2 shower was worth it, but Ole Bull is.  Lyman Run is building showers, so the drive will be even shorter soon.
3. Keynote speech by Ed Ting was just right in content and tone - Thanks Mr. Ting.
4. Just about all equipment you could want to see was there.
5. Could not meet a nicer group of people in attendance

For more details on the event and site see the official website at  http://www.bfsp.org/starparty/

The Site: Cherry Springs State Park

The drive up from the south of CSSP affords this beautiful scenic view.  The state park is in the  Susquehannock state forest.  It truly is a beautiful place for a star party. 

Limiting Visual Magnitude:  I personally did not perform a visual limiting magnitude.  I heard others estimate some nights in the 6.6-6.7 range.  The conditions were just fine for astrophotography:-)

Light domes:  Only under the worst conditions can you spot a slight light dome in the area of Coudersport.  There are no light domes that impact the site at all.

The field: The observing field is quite large and has a little more room for more participants. It provides excellent horizons. Electricity was available on the field courtesy of the Central Pennsylvania Observers and the local Galeton Rotary club.  Thank you!!    The growth of the star party is probably leading to the necessity to section off the field for a more efficient use.  

I arrived on Wednesday evening and met Nick and Ken, both deep sky observers with beautiful truss dobs. My apologies to the deep sky observers, but for me, this meeting was an imagers dream.  There were more imagers in attendance at BFSP 2001  than at any other star party I have attended.  I learned a lot of new techniques.  Below are some of the imaging setups at BFSP.

I did not get the name of this imager, but his imaging system was very impressive.  A C-14 on a Losmandy HGM200 mount with an ST8 camera.  The night we visited he had some beautiful raw images of NGC 6946 on his computer monitor. 

John Varljen with a great imaging platform:  an AP 155 with 4" focuser, AP 1200 GOTO mount, nitrogen purge, ST-4, and Pentax 6x7 camera.  I learned many new techniques from John.  Thanks!

Anthony Davoli with his Vixen 102 and homemade G-11-type mount.  Great craftsmanship on Anthony's part.  Thanks Anthony for all of your help with handiwork on site!

Fellow APMLer Warren Keller.  It was great meeting Warren.  He educated me on the use of the STV and twisted my arm to buy one:-)  Thanks Warren.  Another great imaging system with the Mak-Cas on GM8, Nikon F2, and STV autoguiding.

Best Views:  I thought the best views for transparency and seeing were on Sunday night. 

1. Binoviewers are awesome.  The best views for me were of M13 through Ken's 14.5" Starmaster with a TV Binoviewer.  Don't remember the eyepieces, but M13 was spectacularly 3-D.  
2. Saturn in a Binoviewer.  Again, Ken shared a tremendous view of a 3-D Saturn just sitting out there in space revealing all of its intricate details.  Thanks Ken.
3. Most intriguing view was shared by Gary Honis of an extra-galactic globular cluster associated with the Andromeda Galaxy.  I believe the designation was Mayall or G-1.  It was an observing challenge for me, but very cool.
4. Dave Barrett always has the greatest views through his 24" Tectron.  In addition to the Horsehead views, his views of Saturn on Sunday morning were simply awesome.  My little 5" AP had some pretty nice views of Saturn as well:-)
5. Nick helped us frame a photo object by showing us the Elephant trunk in IC1396. 
6. Gary Honis shared a great view of NGC 253 were dark lanes were very obvious.
7. We had some tremendous daytime solar observing as well through Fran's 6" refractor and my TV85/SolarMax.  Several flares were noted, prominences were changing rapidly, and sunspot rotations were noted during the course of 5 days.  
8.  
9. After this event, Cherry Springs reputation has only grown as being a great gathering place for observers and imagers.  The Central Pennsylvania Observers did a tremendous job, especially considering the tragic events earlier in the week.  BFSP is definitely a priority event on my schedule.  I only hope to be able to get to CSSP more often than once a year.  Clear skies!