Welcome to OSP XIV - 2018.
...Due to the daytime RH values of 5-7% and at night the RH never got above 17%, this year had one of the best nights of viewing - ever in fourteen years. We had great new recipes for meals, and, a major project completed!
This year the new Greecian White Marble sign was constructed in time for OSP.
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The site for the new entry sign was prepped to create a concrete pad sitting in the native boulders.
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And then the flight was in the air, 600MPH and cruising nearly directly above The Observatory inbound to Phoenix!
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The Ravine has nice campsites having the sand that eroded off the hill The Pavilion and parking lot is on.
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The tent nestled among the pine, the lighted stairway has really helped utilize that area better.
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New this year is the Forward Scatter Meteor table. With an upward-angled FM antenna, turning the antenna towards the azimuth and tuning the receiver to a distant radio station, as the incoming meteors enter the atmosphere the ionization reflects the signal to the station An otherwise never heard blip of song or announcer is heard indicating a meteor has been 'seen' in radio!!!
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The first night was setting up camp for Joe and Diane, and relaxing, followed by a much needed night of sleep.
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Diane grabbed the binocs for Venus. Venus at sunset through thin clouds had a glow around it, so she imaged through binoculars on a table by a smart phone.
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The morning conversations were, for the first time, centered on upcoming work.... Mixing concrete, smoothing, edging, and eventual placement of the marble sign. Some relaxation did seem to occur..
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With the work site ready, the cement mixing, shoveling, and troweling happened quickly in the 5% RH conditions.
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Soon the form would be filled, troweled, and the edge tool used creating as best we could a solid base. The NCC-1701 glasses filled were a welcome sight to do some more relaxing with!!
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A lot of work to get to this point and it doesn't look half-bad.....
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Joe made the pizza pies while the pizza oven was heating up. This is a real treat to take a couple hours and enjoy food prep, conversation, and good friends.
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Joe was stretching of the dough. No holes in the pie means a Master is at work!!
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A special hors d'oeuvre for our pizza dinner was bruschetta with goat cheese, fresh Basil pesto, topped with sauteed onions and reduced balsamic vinegar.
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Here the dish is complete. Hors d'oeuvre are served That - was a nice addition to Sicilian Night at The Observatory!!!
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Soon the pizzas were coming out of the oven and by the end we were stuffed!
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Back to work.... At over two hundred pounds, all we needed were two Black Belt martial artists for lifting and moving the sign. It's that simple. I love it when a plan comes together.... Diane provided guidance on the hazards of the path and assistance if need be.
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A little leveling, and call it nearly done.
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Thanks to Joe, and Diane for the help!!!
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It was such a relief to have the sign set and picture time!!
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As seen by visitors, the sign looks pretty good!
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I'm so glad this project turned out so well and is in place!!!! Now, it's called Done!
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And the shots of whiskey from the OSP-reserved bottle of Kentucky Bourbon bottle.
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A nice Dragonfly was our special guest after dinner.
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The OSP-reserved whiskey bottle was marked with dates and a new line level, then put away until next year.
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Of course more fun with cameras!! Steven just needs a cool hat and he's ready for the Detroit Grand Prix or the boat races on Belle Isle!!!
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Some of the local wildlife gets a bird's-eye view of us. Using the 300mmf4 lens, 480mm effective FL, this Turkey Vulture looked pretty good!
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Joe's shot is spectacular!
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The daytime clouds never disappoint for a beautiful sunset.
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Joe was able to get some amazing wide-field images of the Milky Way.
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Then he put on a Hydrogen-Alpha filter for the same shot. All those nebula just pop right out in the image now!!!
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Another of Joe's Milky Way images. The daytime RH values were 5-7% and at night never got above 17%.
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Again, in H-a, the Milky Way has sooo many nebula....
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And, by special request - wait for it - Messier 103. A smart phone image hand-held eyepiece projection using the 36-inch telescope and the 31mm Nagler eyepiece. Not too bad!!!
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Harvey, the Jack Rabbit, visited us this year. He's 6-feet tall and it's a good thing Joe had the super-long focal length lens on his camera...
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My good friend Hawking relaxing at his favorite place in the whole world.
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My other good friend Einstein relaxing at his favorite place in the whole world.
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A nice image of nesting materials for this bird's family.
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On the menu was spinach-cheddar stuffed, bacon-wrapped, chicken thighs, done on the grill.
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Joe's done photography work for restaurant menu's too. He can make any dish look good, and these were actually good..
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Dinner is served!! We certainly work hard, play hard, and, eat well.
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Diane was the first to chisel her glyphs into the Log Book of OSP.
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Joe chiseled as well. Doing this at sunset might have been preferred. That sun is brutal!!
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The Log Book used for thirteen years of Overgaard Star Parties is now retired. The Phase I Table will get a metal band around the perimeter to keep it in one piece and eventually hang in The Phase II Facility.
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Here is the new Log Book, for Phase II. One thing missing is the laser-cut steel letters "Phase II", to be attached when complete. Anyone chiseling this table sees Phase II as a project they want to be a part of.
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On the last night the Intane 80mm F7 APO I won at GLSG from Tom Trusock for having answered the two required questions at the end of his talk on optics, was put on a CG5 mount and images taken with a Canon 60Da capturing more H-alpha light. All images are a combined integration time of between 4 and 5 minutes, with an effective focal length of 896mm. This is the Elephant Trunk Nebula.
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This is the Veil Nebula - Witch's Broom.
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This is the North America Nebula.
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This is the Dumbbell Nebula.
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These are the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae.
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