An Unexpectedly Pleasant Weekend

For the second month in a row, the weather turned perfect for a whole week on the day before the new moon. We celebrated this event by holding yet another ad-hoc three day long star party at Area 51 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The attendance was a little light, but everything else was absolutely great.

I attended all three nights, and I had a great time each night. The weather was unbelievably pleasant, and it looks like it will stay that way for several more days to come. The temperature was mild and the humidity was very low. For three long nights, we were visited by only one solitary cloud, which obscured any given patch of sky for about five minutes as it passed over our heads. In spite of a complete absence of wind, there were almost no mosquitoes. Since it was their mating season, there were many alligators walking the shoreline of the creek, but they were all quite well behaved and none ventured up the steep banks leading to the road and the viewing area.

I borrowed my nephew's car for the entire weekend, so I was back in business with my camera. The stability of the atmosphere was as good as it gets, so I used long focal ratios the first night and I selected very dim objects the next night, each of which requires long exposure times. This strategy results in a lesser number of pictures, but it's more rewarding to capture the tougher shots anyhow. The third night I just wanted to relax and enjoy myself, so I used a fast ratio focal reducer and captured deep exposures revealing a wealth of detail in the targeted objects.

Fred Lehman, May 22, 2004.