Well, that's it for another year. Just waiting for my flight from Vegas to London.
I went stargazing on the Nevada Northern from Ely last night. The almost full moon meant that most stars were invisible. Still we got good views of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and the Moon.
I took this with my Camera.
I'm planning on retiring at the end of Sept so there might be time for another holiday before the end of the year.
Samantha
Comments
Nice!
Have a safe trip Samantha! Hugs Talia
planes
Have a nice flight back to this side of the Atlantic Samantha
Lynne
The Milky Way
When the Earth is lined up to look through the Milky Way, a full moon doesn't matter. My wife and I were at a high lake in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and were treated to a spectacular show of stars as we watched the moon rise over the lake. Awesome!
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Vacation?
My wife and I had to go to Santa Cruz to pick up the kidlette for the summer, and then we went to see my sis-n-law between Carson City and Virginia City. The stars were full of awe, then the moon came out and I couldn't see hardly anything. I couldn't stay up late enough to wait for the moon set. Really wanted to. Being at 5260 feet (If I went to the 2nd floor I'd be over a mile(3rd floor to you yanks)) really sapped my energy.
*HUGS*
Robi
The moon
was already up before the sun set. This really did blot out the view of the milky way. Only a few stars were visible before we returned to East Ely station around 22:30.
If the moon is not up when it gets dark then yes, you can get a great view of the Milky way.
Samantha
Last Fall...
...I took a vacation trip to some of the Utah national parks and monuments. The northern (Grand View) section of Canyonlands National Park is rated as an International Dark Sky Area, one of the best places anywhere to see all the stars, and I made a special return trip late at night to the access road to take a look.
If I'd thought about it, I'd have realized that the moon was full, which kind of defeated the purpose of that particular side trip.
Eric
Great Basin NP
(60+ miles from Ely)
Has also been granted Dark Skies membership. They have an active Astronomy program in the summer.
Ranger Steve was on the train and his team from the park setup a site close to the rail track with two Telescopes.
A very enjoyable evening all round.
The NP is worth a visit. Very uncrowded and in late May it was stunning with snow still on the ground in many places. Oh, and like Canyonlands it does not charge and entrance fee although that didn't matter to me as I bought an Annual NP Pass ($80).
Yes, I'm a great supporter of the US National Parks even if Yosemite are ruining the view from Mirror Lake. This is the iconic photo that Ansel Adams took all those years ago. You can no longer replicate that picture. Thankfully, I have a B/W shot taken there in 1999 that graces my Office Wall.
http://shop.anseladams.com/Mirror_Lake_Mount_Watkins_p/17013...
Sorry, rant over.
Samantha
Night views
I've seen some very nice views of the Milky Way at a gravel pit above Watson Lake, east of Prineville, Oregon. I hope to get up to an area North of Enterprise, Oregon later this summer, though I will need to think about timing it so the moon does not wash it out.