Road trip?

mlfj4901 · Post by **mlfj4901** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 10:57 pm

Greetings,

I was wondering if anyone in the BSIG was interested in taking a road trip to Cherry Grove and Metcalf? There would be a few reasons for taking such a trip.

1. You would get a chance to see what they looked like during the day. This would give you an idea of where they actually are, where to park, what to expect, etc.

2. Get to hang out with fellow MAS members, if some of us ride together...you'd also save on gas by carpooling, and I do have a mini van.

3. At Cherry Grove you'd get to see what the infamous BAD looks like, which might entice you to get down there for a starparty to look through what many people mistake for an artillery piece.

Just a thought, if you'd be interested vote for which weekend works best. The weekend with the most votes wins, and if there is enough interest we could easily do this more than once.

-matt

Starforce2 · Post by **Starforce2** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 12:23 am

U can count me in at CG. July 9th remeber is the petroglifs park party down near comfrey, remeber.

mlfj4901 · Post by **mlfj4901** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:09 am

Greetings,

You're right, forgot about that...lol

I'll remove it from the poll.

I should clarify however, this is not a starparty, but rather we'll drive to both places on the same day. We can finish up at one or the other and try to do some viewing, perhaps at Cherry Grove and use the BAD. However the main point is just to get a feel for where they are, what they look like, etc.

The first time I went to Cherry Grove I wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for the BAD shed being open. Metcalf was a bear to find at night, drove past it a couple of times.

-matt

Kevin Seal · Post by **Kevin Seal** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 9:35 am

I'd be up for the 25th of this month(Saturday), but only for Cherry Grove, methinks (its a lot more convenient for me than metcalf, or onan for that matter). I'm also a newly trained Big Dob operator, so I would definitely be willing (willing? more like eager!) to take it out and show people around. I can't stay too late though as I have to work on Sunday(can stay til 11-12, not much past midnight), which might be fine, as the moon is rising that night at 11(and its a near full moon, so it'll probably wipe out pretty much all the deep sky).

A couple of other questions/concerns:

We would definitely want to make sure we had the scope(s) out around twilight to check out mercury, venus, and saturn, since they will still be pretty close.

Would the trees at Cherry Grove get in the way of viewing these planets? Anyone want to speak to that?

SEmert · Post by **SEmert** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 9:42 am

Kevin Seal wrote:Would the trees at Cherry Grove get in the way of viewing these planets? Anyone want to speak to that?

Good question. Unfortunately, I think the trees and other obstructions (like houses and barns) around CG would make seeing the inner planets difficult, especially Mercury.

orbital1 · Post by **orbital1** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:37 pm

As a brand new member who was planning on taking a trip out to both during the day anyway (I'm navigationally challanged) I'd like to go. This Saturday would be good for me!

Starforce2 · Post by **Starforce2** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:08 pm

given the short time it stays dark, trying too do 2 in one night is a bad idea, simply going from metcalf to CG is around an hr or so drive. Maybe 1.5 hrs.

mlfj4901 · Post by **mlfj4901** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:09 pm

Greetings,

I think we can handle both in one day, we just have to start early enough, say 4:00 am???

Well actually as long as we depart from a location in the west metro area, no later than 4:00 pm I'd say we would have more than enough time. That would give us 5 hours plus of daylight.

-matt

mlfj4901 · Post by **mlfj4901** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:02 am

Greetings,

Well where should we meet? Carpool or follow the leader? We should head down there no later than 7:30 if we want any time down there with light.

-matt

Kevin Seal · Post by **Kevin Seal** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:15 pm

Any idea on when you are going to be at Cherry Grove? Are we going to try to do some observing? It's not looking good right now per the Clear Sky Clock. Would you still want to see the BAD?

Kevin

mlfj4901 · Post by **mlfj4901** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:35 pm

Greetings,

Well it looks like the interest, if there was any, fizzled out for this weekend. Perhaps another day/time.

I completely spaced off the CG work party today, I had thought of heading down there. Would've been a lot more fun then spending $400 at the grocery store

-matt

Starforce2 · Post by **Starforce2** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 6:07 am

good grief you buy the whole store? lol.