Jan 1 Mon. A trip to Sausalito, followed by planned planetary photography at Chris Kitting's. No astronomy got done, but a fun trip anyway. Here's the photos.
Jan 7 Sun eve 8:30pm - Occultation of 11.2 star by Galilea, from Santa Cruz. Results: Successful 5 sec occultation from Karl's! Here's the web page and report link.
Jan 8-20- Comet McNaught bloomed into the Great Comet of '07 during a good stretch of clear nights and days. Results:My Photo Page , contributed to by other RCASSrs as well, of what turned out to be the brightest comet since C/Ikeya-Seki in 1965.
Jan 10/11 Wed eve / Thur morn - help Jamie Ferrell with moon photo. Results: Spent the night with the Ferrell's and got up at dawn, and helped Jamie get her science project going. A lot of fun for all.
Jan 12 Fri eve 11:15pm - Occultation of 12.8 star by Siegena from northern Bay Area, very high rank. Results: I drove to just north of Calaveras Reservoir... for a miss. Here's my report webpage.
Jan 18, 20 - New Moon astrophotography sessions at Coast Road Reservoir, and Bonny Doon Airfield. Results: Got some nice pix!
Jan 26-28 Fri-Sun - ImageQuest Photo Workshop "Cultural Mirages - Route 66 and the Mojave Desert" Results: Another incredible adventure with Dave Wyman - here's my growing photo essay.
Feb 17 Sat eve 10:00pm - Occultation of 9.9 star by Pandora from southern edge of Carrizo Plain or Pismo Beach. By good luck, this fits perfectly with the ImageQuest Family Camping Trip . Results: Successful 4.1 sec occultation, and great weekend fun too.
Mar 8 Thur morn 12:50am - "sure thing" occultation of 11.3 star by Loreley right through Santa Cruz. Results: Clouded out.
Mar 11 Sun morn 2am - Occultation of 12.1 star by asteroid Seglinde centered on Santa Cruz. Last quarter moon in Scorpio. Results: Success! I got a 6 second occultation from Cabrillo Observatory. Also tonight was an astrophotography session at Bonny Doon airfield with the SCAC group. Here's the full story.
Mar 17 Sat - I'm a judge at the Santa Cruz County Science Fair . See the excellent photo page.
Apr 13-15 - Astro 27 / Geo 27 Pinnacles Class. Results: A good group endured bad weather. Check out the Photo page.
Apr 20-22 Fri-Sun - Astro 28T Field Astronomy at Pt. Reyes National Seashore / the Russian River. Highlights are an asteroid occultation and a meteor shower: Apr 21 Sat eve 10:45pm - Occultation of 9.1 star by asteroid Terentia. Path nominal center through Santa Cruz, northern uncertainty zone through Petaluma. 1.7 sec duration, 14 deg altitude. Rank=65. And, peak of Lyrids Meteor Shower as well. Results: A thoroughly fun and fact-filled trip... while it lasted. See the Post Trip Highlights
May 12 Sat - I joined Chris Angelos and the SCAC at their monthly star party at Bonny Doon for astrophotography w/ 8" f/4. Results: Got a nice photo of M101.
May 17 Thur eve - Comet Lovejoy makes close conjunction with this beautiful 11th magnitude Sc spiral: NGC 6015 in Draco. I will be at Cabrillo Observatory to photograph. Results: I got 13 separate images, but they'll require a lot of work to put into proper form. Here's my web page on the event.
May 18-20 Fri-Sun: Astro 28U Field Astronomy from Giant Sequoia National Monument. Our field astronomy class returns to the giant sequoia's on this opening weekend of their camping season. Results - We had clear skies, great weather, communed with the Big Trees, and learned a lot of astronomy. Here's the Post-Trip Highlights.
May 26-28 - I'll be joining Dave Wyman at his Memorial Day Weekend Family Camping Trip to Montana de Oro State Park. Results: Foggy but fun trip. Here's the Photo Page.
June 6 - I did a photo mini astrophotography ttrip to Coast Rd Reservoir for the evening, to photograph the Whale & Hockey Stick galaxy group in Coma Berenices. Results: A nice photo page was the result, of course.
July 28 Sat eve 11:15pm. - Occultation of 11.0 star by 10.6 Euterpe (0.6 mag drop) from Big Sur and Monterey Bay. High accuracy. 99+ moon 25 deg away. Results: Too tough, but I did have a nice evening with Karl etal. Here's a page and pretty photo.
Aug 10-12 Fri-Sun - Astro 28V "Field Astronomy in the Yosemite Region - the Perseid Meteor Shower". Results - with this class sitting right on final exams for the summer session, we didn't get the young people, and so enrollment was low: 12 students. But, it all worked well just the same. See the post-trip photo page.
Aug 28 Tue morn 2am - Total Lunar Eclipse. Totality is 2:52am to 4:22am, and the moon makes a near-central pass through the Earth's shadow. Nice photo op! Results: Last minute relocation because the Loma Prieta School lights could not be turned off... caused some problems, but we had critical mass groups at two sites. Here's the photo page.
Sep 1, Sat morn - Aurigid meteor shower peak at 4:37am. Possible meteor storm. 78%- moon is overhead and pretty hard to hide from view, in Aries, unfortunately. But shower should be strong and dominated by fast, bright meteors. According to careful studies, the most likely meteor rate is about 200/hr, but it could be much higher. The FWHM is only 25 minutes though, so the best part of the shower will rally come and go in about an hour. 4:10-5:10am is the prime time. Looks like our group will observe from Highland Way turnout. Results: A nice outing - here's the report page.
Sept 14-16 Fri-Sun - Astro 28W "Field Astronomy - Granite Domes, Mono Hot Springs, and Astrophotography". Our fall Astro 28 field trip this time goes to Mono Hot Springs beyond Kaiser Pass, on the west side of the Sierra Crest. Hot springs and High Sierra beauty! Results: Arguably the best Astro 28 ever! Here's the evidence.
Oct 5-7 - Astro 27/Geo 27 Pinnacles weekend field course. Results: One of the, if not the, best ever! JP's 25", Kirk and Jack with 12" scopes, I was able to do the geo hike and get amazing pictures on the hike back to camp... great student turnout. Here's the photo page.
Oct 13/14 - Dark sky night with the Astrophotography 9A/B/C. SCAC group at Bonny Doon Airfield. Results: Clear but damp conditions. We had a half dozen turnout for this optional trip, and got some awesome photos. Here's the webpage.
Oct 24-... Comet Holmes. This comet brightened by a factor of a million and put on a nice show in Perseus. I got some creative photos here.
Oct 27 - A Fall colors photo bike-ride up Waddell Creek. Got some nice pix.
Nov 3 Sat morn 4am - Occultation of Regulus on 34- moon in dark sky. Graze along California/Oregon border. Results: I shot it from home, here's the pix.
Nov 3 Sat eve - A photo trip to Coast Road Reservoir. A delightful evening under warm and perfect skies photographing Comet Holmes and the Pelican Nebula.
Dec 22-25 - Kayaking trip to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, and wildlife photography from the kayak at Elkhorn Slough. Some solo time with nature - here's the photo page.
Dec/Jan - Comet 8P Tuttle swings through the inner solar system, making for some nice photo opportunities. Here's my photo page.
Dec 28-30 - ImageQuest Family Camping trip to Yosemite. No snow camping here - we stayed at Yosemite Lodge. Great fun, here's the pix.
