Hello -- Didn't see Joe there, but I spent a couple of hours at Lakeside last night. Very good, maybe excellent, conditions. Mostly I just swept around with binoculars (I have the cheap Celestron 15x70s -- I bought them new last year off Amazon for $29). Pulled the Orion nebula out of twilight with the binocs. Looked at all the Messiers in Ursa Major and Virgo telescopically. Spotted the Leo Messiers with binocs. Spent a good long time looking at the Hercules globulars. I didn't realize before how bright "the other one" is (is that M92? I forget my numbers). M13 was definitely a naked-eye object. Zodiacal light was very pronounced. It was nice being out without charts, books, notepads, pencils, etc. At least for once. I think in the end I really prefer the fast-paced observing from a long list of goals. The night was creepy. The coyotes were very loud, and there were huge flashes of light from Dugway about every 10 minutes. The flashing got distracting after a while, so I took off. On the way in the road was blocked by about 5 cows. The last thing I heard before I left was a sneeze -- I think a coyote sneeze. Incidentally, I tried to identify the animal I saw out there last time I was there -- it wasn't a coyote, but a black wolf. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu
Michael: I've seen foxes and badger out there. It is a watering hole so you can expect preditors and prey to be drawn to the spot. Once a coyote wandered to within 50 yards. I had been quiet so he didn't know I was there and started to howl to his friends accross the valley. That was so scary that now I always play a small transistor radio softly on a music station. This warns the critters that a human is there. Last night we had a school star party for sixtth graders. These are the amateurs of tomorrow. It was mostly the moon and Saturn and some double stars. Later as the crowd thinned out, as full darkness set in I was able to show about a dozen of the remaining crowd M3. This was from the heart of the Salt Lake valley. The reactions of these kids to the view through a telescope is well worth the effort. DT ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Cc: Sent: Thursday, May 5, 2011 8:38 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Lakeside Hello -- Didn't see Joe there, but I spent a couple of hours at Lakeside last night. Very good, maybe excellent, conditions. Mostly I just swept around with binoculars (I have the cheap Celestron 15x70s -- I bought them new last year off Amazon for $29). Pulled the Orion nebula out of twilight with the binocs. Looked at all the Messiers in Ursa Major and Virgo telescopically. Spotted the Leo Messiers with binocs. Spent a good long time looking at the Hercules globulars. I didn't realize before how bright "the other one" is (is that M92? I forget my numbers). M13 was definitely a naked-eye object. Zodiacal light was very pronounced. It was nice being out without charts, books, notepads, pencils, etc. At least for once. I think in the end I really prefer the fast-paced observing from a long list of goals. The night was creepy. The coyotes were very loud, and there were huge flashes of light from Dugway about every 10 minutes. The flashing got distracting after a while, so I took off. On the way in the road was blocked by about 5 cows. The last thing I heard before I left was a sneeze -- I think a coyote sneeze. Incidentally, I tried to identify the animal I saw out there last time I was there -- it wasn't a coyote, but a black wolf. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
On 05 May 2011, at 10:22, daniel turner wrote:
Once a coyote wandered to within 50 yards. I had been quiet so he didn't know I was there and started to howl to his friends accross the valley. That was so scary that now I always play a small transistor radio softly on a music station. This warns the critters that a human is there.
Alternately it tells the carnivores dinner is there. :) patrick
The professor that taught a wildlife biology class studied wolves. He awoke in the mornings to find where the pack had watched him all night, he was not afraid of being attacked. Of, course this same guy parked us in the middle of a herd of bison and told us just not too make any sudden moves as we got out of the vehicles.
Not sure coyotes are that much of a threat either, I walked near a pack and they kept their distance. I rather like hear them howling, but I would be worried about my dog. Music is supposed to scare them away though, not attract. On 05 May 2011, at 10:22, daniel turner wrote:
Once a coyote wandered to within 50 yards. I had been quiet so he didn't know I was there and started to howl to his friends accross the valley. That was so scary that now I always play a small transistor radio softly on a music station. This warns the critters that a human is there.
Alternately it tells the carnivores dinner is there. :)
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
Hi Michael, This is weird! I was at the berm at Lakeside all night and didn't see another person. I did see flashing lights from the direction of Dugway -- they were enormously bright, and I counted seconds to see how far off they were. But there wasn't a sound. So I decided it must have been headlights. The only animals I heard were frogs, though I did see cows on the way there. Where were you at Lakeside? I know you couldn't have been down by the berm! It was a lovely night though extremely cold. I dozed sometimes in the Jeep. Best wishes, Joe ________________________________ From: Michael Vanopstall <opstall@math.utah.edu> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Thursday, May 5, 2011 8:38 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Lakeside Hello -- Didn't see Joe there, but I spent a couple of hours at Lakeside last night. Very good, maybe excellent, conditions. Mostly I just swept around with binoculars (I have the cheap Celestron 15x70s -- I bought them new last year off Amazon for $29). Pulled the Orion nebula out of twilight with the binocs. Looked at all the Messiers in Ursa Major and Virgo telescopically. Spotted the Leo Messiers with binocs. Spent a good long time looking at the Hercules globulars. I didn't realize before how bright "the other one" is (is that M92? I forget my numbers). M13 was definitely a naked-eye object. Zodiacal light was very pronounced. It was nice being out without charts, books, notepads, pencils, etc. At least for once. I think in the end I really prefer the fast-paced observing from a long list of goals. The night was creepy. The coyotes were very loud, and there were huge flashes of light from Dugway about every 10 minutes. The flashing got distracting after a while, so I took off. On the way in the road was blocked by about 5 cows. The last thing I heard before I left was a sneeze -- I think a coyote sneeze. Incidentally, I tried to identify the animal I saw out there last time I was there -- it wasn't a coyote, but a black wolf. ---- Rev. Michael A. van Opstall Department of Mathematics, University of Utah Office: JWB 313 opstall@math.utah.edu _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php
participants (5)
-
daniel turner -
erikhansen＠thebluezone.net -
Joe Bauman -
Michael Vanopstall -
Patrick Wiggins