Observing from Okie-Tex Star Party 2021

[akarsh]

Hello all,

I just got back Sunday night from the Okie-Tex Star Party 2021. This is a star party held near the western corner of the US state of Oklahoma at 36 °N latitude. The Okie-Tex name comes from the idea that it is a gathering of astronomers primarily from Oklahoma and Texas. Okie-Tex is less light-polluted than Texas Star Party, and is amongst the darkest star party locations in the US (I think only Oregon Star Party and maybe Nebraska exceed it in lack of light-pollution). However, this year, the skies did not live up to their best. People with SQMs reported hitting ~21.4 MPSAS. This is perhaps due to smoke from various wildfires, but more likely also because of moisture in the air. It's unusual to have all clear nights at Okie-Tex Star Party and it usually rains on one or more nights. This time, it rained on the first night of the star party, before I arrived at the star party. The 6 nights I spent at the star party were all clear at least for 3--4 hours, but with variable sky brightness and seeing.

The star-party was a ~21-hour drive from the bay area of California which I split over 2 days going and 3 days coming back. My first night there (the second night of the star party), 2021-10-02, was probably the darkest night. The rain must have cleared some of the moisture, but there was heavy dew formation which seriously impeded my observations. Since I had arrived after dark at about 11 PM on that night, I spent the night outside the gate of the star party, setting up only the 25x100 binoculars and not my 18". The next night had some dew, but a lot less. Subsequent nights had less and less dew. The night of 2021-10-05 was supposed to be the best night acc. to forecasts, so I tried to be as efficient that night in observing, without spending much time in the late-night cafeteria (hot chocolate until 2 AM!) or talking to people. My last two nights there were poor, but still usable.

Since there are lots of observations, I'm breaking this log into several posts, this being the first.

25x100 observations:

1. Pleiades nebulosities

(2021-10-02) Having never used such wide-field, I was surprised to see how obvious the nebulosities around the Pleiades stars were. Merope nebula, in particular, was obviously fanning out. I saw the nebulosity around Electra to be a little lopsided. Maia nebula was not as distinct except close to the star.

2. Fornax Dwarf

(2021-10-03) It was a very faint, large glow almost at the threshold of visibility. I am still hoping to get a stronger observation, but I confirmed many aspects of the glow that I did not know before-hand against an image, so I consider it a positive observation. See also the same in 18".

3. Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), NGC 2023, and IC 434
(2021-10-02) I made the following sketch:
HH.jpg
(2021-10-06) Towards the early AM on this night, the conditions appeared to have significantly improved, as I was able to see pieces of the Zodiacal Band. During this night, I studied the same region and got 4--5 pops of the Horsehead shape "jutting" into IC 434.

4. Veil Nebula

(Various nights) As discussed on the Cygnus Loop OOTW thread, I was only able to identify the western, eastern Veil fragments and Fleming's triangle.

18" observations:

5. Cartwheel Galaxy complex
(2010-10-03)
2 diffuse patches intermittently appear, both with < 10% holding -- one larger and fainter (main Cartwheel structure), and the other smaller and brighter (two neighboring galaxies). The smaller/brighter patch occasionally resolves into two. No ring structure whatsoever could be discerned.

This is much less exciting compared to an observation I made almost a decade ago using John Tatarchuk's 25" from Pontotoc, TX (30 °N), where there were occasional flashes of the "full ring", but more frequently, the brighter part of the ring could be held with averted vision.

6. NGC 985
(2010-10-03)
An object which I presumably picked up from Jimi's rings list, this appeared just as a dim lopsided glow around a "star" (stellar nucleus) in my telescope.

7. HCG 22
(2010-10-03)
Easy group with five members. Using lettering designations from Reiner Vogel's Hickson atlas:

HCG22a was the brightest by far, with discernable elongation.
HCG22b,e,d had approximately similar difficulty.
HCG22c was the faintest, low-surface brightness galaxy with a halo comparable in size to HCG22a.

(which amazingly, agrees with Reiner's notes!)

8. IC 289
(2010-10-03)
A fairly faint, mildly mottled glow which responds to UHC/OIII. Could not identify any specific mottling structure.

9. NGC 7008
(2010-10-04) [207x]
Re-observing an "old friend". With OIII, I was able to see mottling in the "back" of the fetus.

10. AM 2115-273
(2010-10-04) [207x]
This galactic trainwreck gained some attention recently when HST photographed it after a restoration operation. Obviously, in my 18", it is mostly nondescript. A "very faint smutz that was only detected because I knew exactly where to look. ~80% holding averted after adaptation [to the field darkness]. No more detail discernible other than that it 'feels' irregular".

11. NGC 7284
(2010-10-04) [207x]
photo_2021-10-13_01-36-55.jpg

12. Shk 21
(2010-10-04)

Only the brightest galaxy could be observed, along with ~4 stars. The brightest galaxy had ~20% holding with averted vision and was best seen in a 7mm Nagler (295x) and 4.5mm Delos (460x).
I had maybe one pop of the second brightest galaxy, which does not count.

13. Arp 147
(2010-10-04)

This is one of those objects I really want to try again and again under good conditions. Using a 6mm (207x) Delos eyepiece, I saw an elongated blob that, at occasional, fortunate moments, resolves into two. The resolution was easier to detect at higher power (4.5mm Delos -- 460x).

14. Cone Nebula region
(2010-10-04)

The top of the frustum near the star has a lopsided round glow that is brighter than the background nebulosity. Shortly further south from this increased nebulosity, a dark region begins and expands into a cone going further south.

15. Blinking Planetary
(2010-10-05) [460x]

Layered, oval-shaped planetary nebula with a central star. OIII mushes out the layers. No sign of the outer halo.

16. Arp 2 globular cluster
(2010-10-05) [114x]

Not as difficult as I imagined. A glow is readily sensed once the general area is identified. It feels like it's made up of stars although not fully resolved. [114x]

In a 10mm Delos [207x], the extent of the glow is smaller but it feels more frequently resolved into stars. About 3 stars appear intermittently.

17. M 76
(2010-10-05) [344x]

With an OIII filter, it looks like a barred spiral galaxy, with a thick bar and two curved "arms" jutting out of either side. The ends of the bar are of increased brightness compared to the rest of the bar.

Without an OIII filter, the "spiral arm" on one side seems to close into a loop, and a knot is seen on the opposite side.

18. NGC 7640

Nice, elongated, mottled LSB galaxy with a brighter core. Hints of curved south arm flash occasionally.

19. Arp 169

This is Jimi's OOTW from several weeks ago. I logged "Two cores + star (?)", with the "star" being vF and the other two cores being easy-ish, with a 6mm Delos [344x] and a 7mm Nagler [295x]. The "star" referes to PGC 200377 which shines at 15.7 mag.

20. NGC 7759 group

I'm not sure where I picked this "chain" of galaxies from. If anyone knows where it was featured, please let me know. It somehow landed on my observing list and I thought it was cool. Of the 6 galaxies seen in this DSS2 Color image from Aladin, I attempted only the brightest four.
NGC 7759.png

The brightest galaxy marked with a + is NGC 7759. It was easy. NGC 7754, which is the edge-on on the far southern side, was the second easiest object. I was able to call it out without knowing the exact location or orientation. I would say it had ~20% holding with averted vision. Elongation was easily discerned. PGC 72509, which lies at 1 o'clock of NGC 7754 in the image above, was the third hardest. I called it "very hard" with 4--5 flashes into view. The hardest of the lot, perhaps because of its superposition on NGC 7759 which makes for a distraction, is designated MCG-03-60-019. I had 3--4 flashes of this object, appearing as an "arm" on top of NGC 7759.

[Paul Alsing]

Hello all,

I just got back Sunday night from the Okie-Tex Star Party 2021. This is a star party held near the western corner of the US state of Oklahoma at 36 °N latitude. The Okie-Tex name comes from the idea that it is a gathering of astronomers primarily from Oklahoma and Texas. Okie-Tex is less light-polluted than Texas Star Party, and is amongst the darkest star party locations in the US (I think only Oregon Star Party and maybe Nebraska exceed it in lack of light-pollution). However, this year, the skies did not live up to their best. People with SQMs reported hitting ~21.4 MPSAS. This is perhaps due to smoke from various wildfires, but more likely also because of moisture in the air. It's unusual to have all clear nights at Okie-Tex Star Party and it usually rains on one or more nights. This time, it rained on the first night of the star party, before I arrived at the star party. The 6 nights I spent at the star party were all clear at least for 3--4 hours, but with variable sky brightness and seeing.

The star-party was a ~21-hour drive from the bay area of California which I split over 2 days going and 3 days coming back. My first night there (the second night of the star party), 2021-10-02, was probably the darkest night. The rain must have cleared some of the moisture, but there was heavy dew formation which seriously impeded my observations. Since I had arrived after dark at about 11 PM on that night, I spent the night outside the gate of the star party, setting up only the 25x100 binoculars and not my 18". The next night had some dew, but a lot less. Subsequent nights had less and less dew. The night of 2021-10-05 was supposed to be the best night acc. to forecasts, so I tried to be as efficient that night in observing, without spending much time in the late-night cafeteria (hot chocolate until 2 AM!) or talking to people. My last two nights there were poor, but still usable.

Since there are lots of observations, I'm breaking this log into several posts, this being the first.

25x100 observations:

1. Pleiades nebulosities

(2021-10-02) Having never used such wide-field, I was surprised to see how obvious the nebulosities around the Pleiades stars were. Merope nebula, in particular, was obviously fanning out. I saw the nebulosity around Electra to be a little lopsided. Maia nebula was not as distinct except close to the star.

2. Fornax Dwarf

(2021-10-03) It was a very faint, large glow almost at the threshold of visibility. I am still hoping to get a stronger observation, but I confirmed many aspects of the glow that I did not know before-hand against an image, so I consider it a positive observation. See also the same in 18".

3. Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), NGC 2023, and IC 434
(2021-10-02) I made the following sketch:
HH.jpg
(2021-10-06) Towards the early AM on this night, the conditions appeared to have significantly improved, as I was able to see pieces of the Zodiacal Band. During this night, I studied the same region and got 4--5 pops of the Horsehead shape "jutting" into IC 434.

4. Veil Nebula

(Various nights) As discussed on the Cygnus Loop OOTW thread, I was only able to identify the western, eastern Veil fragments and Fleming's triangle.

18" observations:

5. Cartwheel Galaxy complex
(2010-10-03)
2 diffuse patches intermittently appear, both with < 10% holding -- one larger and fainter (main Cartwheel structure), and the other smaller and brighter (two neighboring galaxies). The smaller/brighter patch occasionally resolves into two. No ring structure whatsoever could be discerned.

This is much less exciting compared to an observation I made almost a decade ago using John Tatarchuk's 25" from Pontotoc, TX (30 °N), where there were occasional flashes of the "full ring", but more frequently, the brighter part of the ring could be held with averted vision.

6. NGC 985
(2010-10-03)
An object which I presumably picked up from Jimi's rings list, this appeared just as a dim lopsided glow around a "star" (stellar nucleus) in my telescope.

7. HCG 22
(2010-10-03)
Easy group with five members. Using lettering designations from Reiner Vogel's Hickson atlas:

HCG22a was the brightest by far, with discernable elongation.
HCG22b,e,d had approximately similar difficulty.
HCG22c was the faintest, low-surface brightness galaxy with a halo comparable in size to HCG22a.

(which amazingly, agrees with Reiner's notes!)

8. IC 289
(2010-10-03)
A fairly faint, mildly mottled glow which responds to UHC/OIII. Could not identify any specific mottling structure.

9. NGC 7008
(2010-10-04) [207x]
Re-observing an "old friend". With OIII, I was able to see mottling in the "back" of the fetus.

10. AM 2115-273
(2010-10-04) [207x]
This galactic trainwreck gained some attention recently when HST photographed it after a restoration operation. Obviously, in my 18", it is mostly nondescript. A "very faint smutz that was only detected because I knew exactly where to look. ~80% holding averted after adaptation [to the field darkness]. No more detail discernible other than that it 'feels' irregular".

11. NGC 7284
(2010-10-04) [207x]
photo_2021-10-13_01-36-55.jpg

12. Shk 21
(2010-10-04)

Only the brightest galaxy could be observed, along with ~4 stars. The brightest galaxy had ~20% holding with averted vision and was best seen in a 7mm Nagler (295x) and 4.5mm Delos (460x).
I had maybe one pop of the second brightest galaxy, which does not count.

13. Arp 147
(2010-10-04)

This is one of those objects I really want to try again and again under good conditions. Using a 6mm (207x) Delos eyepiece, I saw an elongated blob that, at occasional, fortunate moments, resolves into two. The resolution was easier to detect at higher power (4.5mm Delos -- 460x).

14. Cone Nebula region
(2010-10-04)

The top of the frustum near the star has a lopsided round glow that is brighter than the background nebulosity. Shortly further south from this increased nebulosity, a dark region begins and expands into a cone going further south.

15. Blinking Planetary
(2010-10-05) [460x]

Layered, oval-shaped planetary nebula with a central star. OIII mushes out the layers. No sign of the outer halo.

16. Arp 2 globular cluster
(2010-10-05) [114x]

Not as difficult as I imagined. A glow is readily sensed once the general area is identified. It feels like it's made up of stars although not fully resolved. [114x]

In a 10mm Delos [207x], the extent of the glow is smaller but it feels more frequently resolved into stars. About 3 stars appear intermittently.

17. M 76
(2010-10-05) [344x]

With an OIII filter, it looks like a barred spiral galaxy, with a thick bar and two curved "arms" jutting out of either side. The ends of the bar are of increased brightness compared to the rest of the bar.

Without an OIII filter, the "spiral arm" on one side seems to close into a loop, and a knot is seen on the opposite side.

18. NGC 7640

Nice, elongated, mottled LSB galaxy with a brighter core. Hints of curved south arm flash occasionally.

19. Arp 169

This is Jimi's OOTW from several weeks ago. I logged "Two cores + star (?)", with the "star" being vF and the other two cores being easy-ish, with a 6mm Delos [344x] and a 7mm Nagler [295x]. The "star" referes to PGC 200377 which shines at 15.7 mag.

20. NGC 7759 group

I'm not sure where I picked this "chain" of galaxies from. If anyone knows where it was featured, please let me know. It somehow landed on my observing list and I thought it was cool. Of the 6 galaxies seen in this DSS2 Color image from Aladin, I attempted only the brightest four.
NGC 7759.png

The brightest galaxy marked with a + is NGC 7759. It was easy. NGC 7754, which is the edge-on on the far southern side, was the second easiest object. I was able to call it out without knowing the exact location or orientation. I would say it had ~20% holding with averted vision. Elongation was easily discerned. PGC 72509, which lies at 1 o'clock of NGC 7754 in the image above, was the third hardest. I called it "very hard" with 4--5 flashes into view. The hardest of the lot, perhaps because of its superposition on NGC 7759 which makes for a distraction, is designated MCG-03-60-019. I had 3--4 flashes of this object, appearing as an "arm" on top of NGC 7759.

It sounds like you made the best of your mediocre skies at Okie-Tex, Akarsh, but I would expect no less from you!

We missed you at CalStar this time around. We had 3 nice nights at Lake San Antonio and shared (1) common object with you, that being NGC 7008, which was just terrific in John Hoey's 25" f/5 Obsession. Deb & I can't wait to observe again with you, it is always a treat!

[akarsh]

Oh Paul! I completely forgot that you and Debbie and John would be at CalStar. I owe you a meeting soon! That was only a bit over half the report from Okie-Tex :-D. I still have a dozen or so more objects to post, and I'm still working on typing that up. :-)
I wish GSSP would have happened this year, but I hope to catch up with y'all soon -- maybe in a setting completely unrelated to deep-sky observing, since I just upgraded my vehicle...

[akarsh]

Here are the rest of my observations

21. NGC 7793 "Bond Galaxy"
(2021-10-05) [295x]

I wish this galaxy had something to do with James Bond, but no -- it's named after G. P. Bond who was credited with its discovery in 1850, when he described it as "like a comet". However, quoting Courtney Seligman's page on the object, "At the time Dreyer compiled the NGC it was thought that none of Dunlop's observations corresponded to this object; but in recent years an effort has been made to see whether some of his "poor" observations were actually valid, and as indicated by the credit in parentheses, it is now thought that this object was Dunlop's #608.". So the discovery is now attributed to James Dunlop (1826).

Anyway, I heard about this galaxy from a friend Sudhash who observed it with 20x80 binoculars. I wish this beautiful face-on galaxy would appear higher in our skies. Here's what I logged with a 7mm Nagler eyepiece: "Heavily mottled LSB grand spiral with many knots all over. Distinct spiral arms could not be discerned/traced. A few condensations could be held intermittently, notably the one removed from the galaxy in the NE, forming an equilateral triangle with the stellar core and a fairly bright star". The knot I refer to is the one marked with the cross-hairs in the following POSSII Blue image:
NGC7793.png

22. NGC 40 "Bow-Tie Nebula"
(2021-10-05) [460x]

I made the following sketches using a 4.5mm Delos, unfiltered and with a Lumicon UHC filter. I exaggerated heavily the contrast of the edges in the filtered sketch, just to emphasize that I saw them enhanced by the filter.
Bowtie.jpeg

23. NGC 55
(2021-10-05) [148x]

I hadn't looked at this beautiful galaxy in a long time, so I decided to give it a look.

24. Abell 27 galaxy cluster
(2021-10-05)

I came across this nice galaxy cluster at z = 0.054 (730 Myr light travel time with the present cosmology), perhaps from an old post by John Tatarchuk on CloudyNights. With a 10mm Delos [207x], the phrase "lumpy darkness" normally used for the Corona Borealis cluster (ACO 2067) described it quite well. Boosting the power to 344x (6mm Delos), a number of condensations would pop in and out, maybe about 8--10 in number. The best view I had was through a 7mm Nagler [295x]. The three brightest members (which shine at about 15th magnitude) could never be held simultaneously, but I could hold two at a time. The holding for these members was <~ 10%. I had one good pop of all three bright members.

ACO27_SDSS.png
(Sloan Digital Sky Survey)

Looking at the POSSII Blue plate, I had expected this cluster to yield a bit more through my 18", but perhaps its low altitude of 34° at culmination made it harder. I really enjoyed this cluster.

25. HCG 2
(2021-10-05)

This is a Hickson group with four members. Using a 6mm Delos [344x], HCG 2b and HCG 2a were bright and easy, with HCG 2a appearing distinctly elongated. HCG 2c was very faint and of low surface brightness. Adding more power with a 4.5mm Delos [460x], HCG 2a looked LSB and mottled. HCG 2d (~15.4mag) was the hardest galaxy, and I managed to confirm it at this higher power with some lucky seeing.

HCG2.png
(DSS2 colored from Aladin)

26. Arp 251
(2021-10-05) [344x]

This faint triplet of galaxies has been on my list for a while, and this is my second attempt. In my first attempt, I failed to see anything concrete. This time, I wrote "This is faint as hell" and sketched it as a glow around a very faint star (~40% holding with direct vision). Occasionally, the glow showed some structure of two "arms" fanning out of the star. Even more occasionally, the brightest galaxy (6dFGS gJ005348.4-135115), which shines at about 15th magnitude, would pop in and resolve. I consider this a weak observation at the limit of visibility and would want to follow it up again.
Arp251.png

27. NGC 660 (a polar ring galaxy)
(2021-10-05) [295x]

This might be the first evidence of any sort of ring that I have seen in my 18"! With a 7mm Nagler, the elongated body of the galaxy has a dark cut going through it. With strongly averted vision, the direction of elongation of the cut pops in. This "cut" is the obscuration of the main body of the galaxy by the dust of the polar ring.

28. HCG 17
(2021-10-05) [344x]

Resolving HCG 17 has been on my list for a long time. The last time I saw this with my 18" was in November 2013, when my coatings were bad. I struggled to sense any resolution of the clump of three galaxies. Later in October 2016, through Jimi's 48" telescope, I logged 5 members, including the 19.3mag HCG 17e. But it has been on my list to try and resolve the 3 brightest members with my 18".

With a 6mm Delos, I saw a "glow, seems mottled". But with persistent observation, I got several great momentary flashes of the resolution of the triangular clump (HCG 17a,b,c which are in the mid-15th and low-16th magnitudes).

29. Arp 273 (Hubble Rose)
(2021-10-05) [460x]

Once again a repeat observation where I tried to outdo my previous observations, but failed. In fact, the last time I glimpsed this amazing pair in my 18" was at the 2015 Okie-Tex Star Party. Back then, I had momentary flashes of the spiral structure of UGC 1810. This time around, it was pretty similar. I was able to identify the core of UGC 1810 and the elongation of UGC 1813 readily, but in addition, I was able to trace the spiral arm of UGC 1810 from the core towards the star to the east, and then a bit of the southern part of the arm. I was unable to see the part of the arm curving back towards the SW. Perhaps with darker skies, this object will yield more in an 18", so it continues to be on my list.

30. NGC 922
(2021-10-05) [460x]

This is an object I wish rose higher up in our sky. NGC 922 in Fornax, located at 142 Mly from us, is one of the nearest known collisional galaxies. Through my telescope, it does not look like a typical galaxy. I provide my sketch made with 6mm and 4.5mm Delos, where north points roughly downwards.
NGC922.jpeg

31. Terzan 7
(2021-10-06)

This object found its way on my list because of Steve Gottlieb's recent S&T Article and OOTW post. I have posted my report on the OOTW thread here

32. NGC 70 group
(2021-10-06) [344x]

A very easy dense grouping of galaxies! With the 6mm Delos, I was able to confirm 11 galaxies, and one very weak observation. I ranked the galaxies I observed in groups according to brightness (brightest to faintest):

NGC 68, 70, 71 -- easiest three
NGC 72, 69, 67 -- next set. The orientations of NGC 72 and 69 were noted correctly.
MCG+05-01-070 -- next in brightness.
LEDA 138159 -- next in brightness. I logged this as "very faint"
NGC 74 -- I ranked this next in brightness. It's orientation was noted correctly.
LEDA 1887599 -- next in brightness, I logged this as "very very faint"
At this point, I pulled up the SDSS image (with Okie-Tex's WiFi!) so I could better tell the stars apart from the galaxies. I identified the following two galaxies:
LEDA 1889390 (~16.2m) -- extremely faint galaxy. Strong observation, though, with many pops. I was able to see it well after the seeing improved.
LEDA 1889183 (~16.6m) -- extremely extremely faint. Weak observation -- got 2 good pops and 2 weak pops.

NGC70.png
(Sloan Digital Sky Survey)

33. NGC 100
(2021-10-06)

I re-observed this superthin, and logged "brighter in the middle".

34. IC 59
35. IC 63
(2021-10-06)

I posted a detailed observation report with sketches on Uwe Glahn's recent OOTW here

36. HH1 and HH2 (Herbig-Haro objects)
(2021-10-06) [344x]

One surprise that should have obvious in hindsight is that the visual extent of NGC 1999 is much smaller than what is seen in the POSSII blue plate. This threw me off for a while, but I was able to use a few stars nearby to pin-point the location of HH 2.

HH2 was significantly easier than HH1, with about 50% holding averted. I roughly estimated its magnitude to be fainter than 14.3mag by defocusing the nearby star Parenago 2402.
HH1 was way fainter, a threshold object of which I got about 4 flashes.

It did not even occur to me to put a filter on these objects.

37. Huchra's Lens
(2021-10-07)
During a previous night, we heard reports of people resolving 3 images of Einstein's Cross with a 24" telescope. I thought I would give it a shot, but by the time it ocurred to me to point my scope that way, it was way beyond culmination. Moreover, my tracking was of poor quality, and I would have not been able to rack up the power needed to attempt to resolve the quasar images. So I decided to be content with seeing the lens galaxy.

In my 18", Huchra's lens appeared as a nondescript galaxy with a "stellar" core.

38. FJJ NGC 185 V
(2021-10-07) [344x]

This is a globular cluster in NGC 185 that I have attempted before. This time around, I logged an "Extremely faint spots that I got 3 good and 2--3 weak pops of using a 6mm Delos, over a span of 10+ minutes. Needs to be pursued under better conditions for strong confirmation. Currently the sky has gone south."

39. NGC 663
The sky soon after clouded up in the south and there was a murky sky in the north. So I quit after observing open cluster NGC 663

This was the end of my observations from Okie-Tex Star Party. Other observing hilights of the star party for me were using night-vision equipment to observe faint nebulae, and scanning the night sky with a H-alpha filter attached to a night-vision monocular. I was mindblown seeing the many HII regions along the milky way, starting with North America/Pelican near Cyngus, going through the HII regions in Cepheus, the Heart-and-Soul complex, all the way down to California Nebula, Flaming Star Nebula and Orion Nebulosities (Lambda Orionis, Barnard's Loop etc.)

On my way back, I stopped by in the Mojave desert of California near Amboy, CA to evaluate an observing site that was supposed to be Bortle 1. However, a large light dome from Los Angeles and a smaller but still significant light dome from Las Vegas, along with what I presume is the dust of the desert created rather murky skies. This was surprising given that the light pollution map showed this is a very good site. This means that perhaps the better option for a winter observing site in California is Death Valley.

[gdjsky01]

Wonderful writeup!!!
A keeper for sure in my collection of other's observations! Thanks for taking the time to post them!

[akarsh]

Wonderful writeup!!!
A keeper for sure in my collection of other's observations! Thanks for taking the time to post them!

Thanks, Jeff.

[Hakann]

Thanks for a great report!
A long drive!
How much people with bigger Dobs was there ?
-I think we meet breefly in Steerns in Oregon just before I went to OSP for the solar eclipse -17.
You came in late at night on that narrow road, not easy to find that place in the dark !
We had one night there at inc black for maybe 2 hours.
I had my SQM box borrowed out to a friend that was on LaPalma but it shore was dark there, maybe 22.
Paul showed the Taffy galaxys in Pegasus and Jim got me over to the dark side ( depending how to look at it... ) from eye candy to faint stuff 2 years later at OSP when I saw a 3 BLY galaxy.
That got me into 30”.

[akarsh]

Thanks for a great report!
A long drive!
How much people with bigger Dobs was there ?
-I think we meet breefly in Steerns in Oregon just before I went to OSP for the solar eclipse -17.
You came in late at night on that narrow road, not easy to find that place in the dark !
We had one night there at inc black for maybe 2 hours.
I had my SQM box borrowed out to a friend that was on LaPalma but it shore was dark there, maybe 22.
Paul showed the Taffy galaxys in Pegasus and Jim got me over to the dark side ( depending how to look at it... ) from eye candy to faint stuff 2 years later at OSP when I saw a 3 BLY galaxy.
That got me into 30”.

Yes, that's right Hakann -- we met in the Steens briefly before the eclipse. And yes, I did arrive late, so I actually did not drive up the road until the next day if I remember right. My understanding is that I missed an exceptional night at Steens by arriving a day late. Hope to see you in the states again!

Clear Skies!

[morsie]

These are super descriptions and write ups!! I'm glad you've had the chance to get out and experience "old friends" and new ones.