Saturday, 11-May-1996

Undaunted, and needing some time away from the rat race, my cousin and observing partner Mitch Ray and I left Houston, bound for Fort Davis and the Prude Guest Ranch, some 10 hours drive time away.

Fort Davis is in the middle of west Texas, and west Texas has always been hot and dry. In 1995 we camped in a tent, and learned that at 9:30 in the morning you couldn't stay in it anymore. The west Texas sun beat down so heavily, even at this relatively early hour, it was impossible to sleep. So this year we made reservations for one of the motel rooms on the ranch. Yes, it was a bit decadent, but when you stay up late observing, being able to sleep past 9:30 is a blessing. Having a cool place to escape the heat of the day was even more of a blessing.

Then the sun set, and the reason so many people come from all over became evident. Some of the darkest skies and brightest stars you would want to see. Officially the Star Party doesn't start until tomorrow, but the early arrivals, including us, take advantage of the opportunity. To give you an example of what the skies were like that Saturday night, I overheard a conversation among 4 experienced observers. It went something like this:

"See the two 4.0 stars there?"
"Yes."
"Okay drop down to the 6.3 over here."
"Okay."
"Now move over to the 7.2 over there."
"Got it"
"Now can you see the 8.0 just a little over that way?"
"I sure can."

8.0 visual limiting magnitude. My eyes aren't that good so I didn't even try.

After getting set up we did a quick observing run on some northern objects we can't get a good view of from our normal observing sight. All the objects appeared to be fuller than we could normally see. It was wonderful, and a great start to a week of astronomy. Who cares about dust when the stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. (Sorry couldn't resist.)

Sunday, 12-May-1996

In a society of night owls, the day starts well past sun rise and lunch becomes the first meal of the day. At 9 o'clock in the morning the fields, dotted with telescopes shrouded in mylar, are still and quiet. Still that is except for the wind. The wind is a constant during the day, and tagging along for the ride, is the dust. The heat of the morning will eventually drive many of the tent campers out of their tents and into whatever shade they brought with them or can borrow. It's tough to tent camp in west Texas, and although I love to camp, I don't envy those hardy people who choose to brave the heat.

I rest in the shade of a tree, and that's when I first notice that the wind is warm. Perhaps a walk in the heat of the afternoon was not the brightest thing I have done, but it is peaceful, and after a lazy morning it feels good to stretch my legs. After taking a few pictures and looking through the binoculars, I continue my walk back towards the room.

While I'm away, our room, and I assume all the others around the ranch, has been blacked out. Heavy brown paper has been taped over the windows, and red light bulbs have been placed in some of the fixtures around the room. It's getting serious now, light restrictions will start being enforced.

In the lodge, where the vendors set up, tables have been covered over with every thing you can imagine that can suck a dollar bill out of your wallet.

Monday, 13-May-1996

The day started normally enough, scattered clouds and dusty winds. After lunch, we made a trip in to town to beef up on our supply of late night snacks.

15:00 The wind is blowing so much dust that the horizon is partially obscured, and even in the confines of the room I can smell the dust in the air

About 11p.m. we discovered that we didn't have an alarm clock. So I wrote a qbasic program on my notebook that would make noise after a given time period. At midnight the computer woke me up, and I checked the conditions: clouds. 1A.M.: clouds. 2 A.M.: clouds. I gave up.

Tuesday, 14-May-1996

At 9:30 A.M. we still have clouds. So we didn't miss any observing time. At 10A.M. I wandered through the vendor tables, and met Al Nagler. We chatted for a few minutes, and I was glad for the opportunity to meet him. After lunch, we registered for the star party and bought our official T-shirts for 1996. I like the design very much.

22:00 Began going through the Telescope Observing list of 25 objects. Many of the objects are around 10th magnitude, and prove to be a challenge even with my telescope. I spend a while observing each object and making small notes on the list. I enjoyed having a planned observing run.

Wednesday, 15-May-1996

02:40 Began the binocular Observing list of 25 objects.

03:41 I have just observed Cr 399, The Coathanger, for the very first time. It is a very interesting asterism well deserving of it's name.

05:17 Recorded the 21st object from the binocular list. The remaining 4 objects, 3 in Centaurus, and 1 in Cancer, have set long ago and will have to wait until tonight.

Watched a very old, sliver of a moon rise above the hill, in the glow of sunrise. I peeked through some 6 inch binoculars at the rising moon. 6 inch binoculars are amazing. Through my telescope the moon was a pretty awesome sight.

After getting some sleep and lunch, I attended two of the daily afternoon talks. Both were interesting.

13:30 Photographic Determination of the Eccentricity of the Earth's Orbit - Richard Nugent, Houston, TX.

14:00 Building of the Central Texas Observatory - Kelley Knight, Austin, TX.

We visited the McDonald Observatory this afternoon. In the visitor center they were showing views from their solar telescope on a big screen television. Although there were no sunspots to speak of, there was a huge solar prominence extending several hundred thousand miles from the surface of the sun. It was an amazing site, even the guy giving the show was impressed.

Paid a return visit to the 107 inch visitor gallery, that scope is as impressive a sight as the first time I saw it.

22:40 Finished up the remaining 4 objects on the binocular observing list.

Thursday, 16-May-1996

Attended the following afternoon talks:

13:15 Internet Astrophotography - Robert Reeves, San Antonio, TX.
13:45 Observing the Obscure Universe - What It Looks Like and Where It Is. Larry Mitchell, Houston, TX.
14:45 Hiking the Great Wall of Galaxies - Dennis Webb, Houston, TX.
15:15 Observing Globular Clusters - Barbara Wilson, Houston, TX.
15:45 Observational Data For Globular Clusters - Brian Skiff, Flagstaff AZ.

Attended the evening talk:
19:30 Amateur Astronomers and the CCD Revolution - Dennis di Cicco

Tried to observe some of the objects mentioned by Dennis Webb in his talk, unfortunately I can't see any of the 14th magnitude galaxies with my scope.

Friday, 17-May-1996

11:00 Participated as an element in the Community Array, Dermal Aperture, Broad-Band Receiver - Single Photon Philosophical Telescope. Actually I just wanted to hear Dave play his bagpipe.

13:00 Group Photo!

19:30 Attended the evening talk: The Challenge of Comet Hale-Bopp - Dr. Alan Hale.

Dr. Hale began his talk with a couple of quotes, one of which was:

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but "That's funny..."

Isaac Asimov

Dr. Hale pointed out that discoveries can be made when you least expect them. So if you are ever looking at anything that makes you say "that's funny" don't blow it off as inconsequential. Galileo did, and missed being the discoverer of Neptune.

Didn't bother taking the cover off of the telescope, I sat back in my chair and watched the sky.

Saturday, 18-May-1996

The Wrap Up

After the dire warnings about the dust, I can say yes, it was dusty. However, it wasn't that much worse than I remember from last year. Will I go to another Texas Star Party? Yes! The night sky of west Texas is worth seeing.