This path crosses centrally over Monterey Bay, but the northern limit just misses Santa Cruz. Odds of only 33% from home, and despite thin cirrus and a gibbous moon, I was feeling lucky and kept it on my docket. Most of the day the clouds were too thick to consider it a bet for spending ga$ to get to south county for such a faint star. But then, at sunset, the sky looked better, and Kirk was game to join me and add a second chord. I thought with such a faint star the odds of a 'hit' being taken seriously by the audit squad was too iffy for just one observer. Having two made it worth the risk for this little adventure.
Results:
We got an ultra-late start, with me getting just 1 spoonful of my dinner while I madly threw gear into the RAV4. Kirk was efficient in the last minute change to go for it, and got to my place quickly; we hit the road at 8:21pm for the 20 minute drive to Salinas Rd, where I dropped off Kirk at an ag field road off HillTop. I got back on Hwy 1 and went a few miles further south and set up in a field behind the 76 station at the north end of Moss Landing. We had significant wind off the northwest, Kirk less protected than I, but the wind calmed somewhat during the minutes around the event. I set up behind a folding thing big enough to provide some shielding. I also got in front of my scope and spread my jacket Batman-like, being careful not to impinge on the light cylinder to the star, during the minute up to the event and after for a time.
The 14.2 star was consistently seen at 16x, and at 32x the sky brightness was getting objectionable. Some thin thin cirrus was around but didn't seem to be visible on the scope view. The star was very close to a dimmer 14.6 star, which may make reductions hard. I have not reduced my tape yet, but I'm optimistic we got it. The rank was decent and we were well inside the northern limit with 75-85% odds of a hit.
Nolthenius Results
Kirk Bender Results