Graze of ZC 184 (88 Psc) - Feb 13, 2005 UT
6.0 Star 10s of 23+ Moon 33 deg altitude
The graze path
crossed almost exactly over the same station I used for the Upsilon Gem graze
last November, and also at the classic saloon in Little Panoche Valley. I had
thought about an overnight trip and astrophotography, but weather and lack of
interest among the rest of the club made me decide to just make it a brief
trip. Weather during the day was good, after a rain storm the previous night. I
ran around packing the scope and gear, some clothes, running other errands,
stopping at the library to grab a couple books on tape, and putting my mountain
bike on the roof, intending to do a little biking through the flowers around
Pinnacles National Monument. I left at 3pm for the 7:24pm graze, arriving in
San Juan Bautista around 4pm. Suddenly the sky didn't look so good. Heavy
cirrus in a thick mass was coming in from the northwest, and condensation fog
was forming along the ridgeline of the Gabilan Range. I thought the fog issue
might be worse further south in the mountainous terrain I was driving to, and
the satellite view earlier in the day gave little hope of a break in the
clouds. I did some bike touring around San Juan Bautista, stopped at a few
restaurants for scouting purposes for future student trips I may plan, and then
figured I'd drive home in time to spend my Saturday night at the movies. I
pondered and hesitated, finally deciding to pack it in and head back. I got as
far as the Pajaro River before my astronomical conscience got to me - the
profile was so beautiful, and the prospect of getting a spectacular graze on
tape and accessible for my students was too tempting and, heck, I'd already
driven almost half way anyway. So I turned around again and headed to the graze
site on Hwy 25 about 2 miles north of the Pinnacles turnoff, listening to
"Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Gray on the way.
Weather improved,
the moon was sitting now in only light cirrus. I set up the 8" Meade LX10
and everything was looking good. The star was bright, the earthshine clearly on
tape, and it looked like it might be all I'd hoped... and it was! Got 16 events
over 3 minutes.
Observing site: on
Hwy 25 west shoulder a couple miles north of Pinnacles turnoff. WGS84 GPS.
Long:
121 09.35' W
Lat:
36 32.61' N
Elev
1320 ft. (topozone.com)
Ph UT Comments (multi-frame events timed at 25% full
brightness)
---------- ----------
begin
3:20:00
D 3:21:59.74 gradual
R 3:22:00.21
D 3:22:01.44
R 3:22:09.57
D 3:22:24.64
R 3:22:59.87
D 3:23:02.74
R 3:23:06.17
D 3:23:06.41
R 3:24:01.57
D 3:24:01.77 partial flash; brightened to 40% full
R 3:24:42.47
D 3:24:47.41
R 3:24:52.97
D 3:24:53.64
R 3:24:56.37
End
3:26:30