Site report from the Duschene Ridge - one mile south of the Wolf Creek campground off of Forest Road 91. In summary - the grand display of galactic core and spinward galactic disk is on. Be there or be square. 7/25/2004 10pm-12:30am Temp: mid to low 50s. Daytime temps are in the 70s, but for comfortable night-time viewing the temps are such that long-pants and heavy-coat and/or fleece jacket with sweater are warranted. Very light gloves are useful for comfort, but not necessary. ZLM: 6.0 from McBeath's Hercules LM area Horizon limiting magnitude: M22, M7, M8 are all naked-eye objects. Detail in the Sag-Oph Barnard clouds obscuring the galactic core are evident to the naked-eye without binoculars. Sky brightness: Bortle Rural to True Dark Sky. You know it's going to be a good night when the Pipe Nebula is naked eye object in between civil and astronomical twilight. (Minor light pollution to 5° above horizon at WWS to WWN from Heber.) Atmospheric extinction: Before sunset, summer haze was evident to 10° above horizon, but seeing in near-horizon objects like M6 is excellent. I also visited this site on 7/19, a SLC heavy-smog work weekday. On that night, the smog atmospheric band at Wolf Creek was significant, stretching to 20° above the horizon with noticable effects on seeing. Seeing: A-III at 20° off zenith No-see-um's: High-level of aggressive no-see-ums that rise 1 hour before sunset. Although not so numerous as to interfere with viewing, DEET or other repellant is mandatory; a mosquito net jacket is recommended; long-pants highly recommended for comfortable viewing. These no-see-ums are aggressive. Some are large enough that they will bite through a single layer of clothing to reach non-DEET treated skin. Early-morning return drive hazards from Wolf Creek to the Francis stop-light: 6 deer - 1 parked on the road and 5 solitary potential "darters" equally spaced along the roadside; 2 coyotes; 1 dog. Weather: In the late afternoon (4-7pm), several mountain generated cumulus storm clouds blew over, but these cleared out as the Sun set. In the vinicity: Wildflowers are in full bloom, so a pre-darkness drive over to Silver Meadow was in order. 1 1/2 miles to the north of Highway 35 on a two-wheel dirt road. The dirt road turnoff is the first turn-off to the north of the highway, about 1/2 mile past (east) of the Wolf Creek campground entrance. Wildflower fields that extend for 3/4 of a mile can be seen. Session notes: The main purpose of this trip was to 1) cool-off from the stifling SLC heat-wave and 2) to become acquainted with star fields around three insatability zone variables that change 1/2 magnitudes within 2-3 hours (VX Her, DY Her, and Sco V703). Worked on confirming 2 deg field charts before the Moon rose at 11:53 pm. Venus is mag 0.0 during civil twilight. The usual long-time to summer astronomical twilight applies. Although the Sun sets about 9pm, true astronomical twilight does not really begin until about 10:30pm. There was enough time for an extended nap between setting up and astronomical twilight. By Friday, the Moon should be coming up after 1:00am. (During this dark sky cycle, the New Moon is on August 4 with a lunar return around Aug. 7 or 8.) The southern delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks on Thursday, July 28 (20 ZHR) and the alpha-Capricornids on Sat. July 30 (4 ZHR). See - http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal05.html#southern-delta-aquarids - Enjoy Canopus56 (Kurt) ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs