I just returned from 3 nights attending to my favorite dark-sky astronomy activity...a new moon trip to Portal, AZ hosted by my good friend Jerry. Accompanied by several other great friends- and most importantly my son, Ian, this trip was just what the doctor ordered It had been a long time since we had a father-son trip and it fed my soul to be with him for just a few days.
Despite our best astronomical intentions, we only had one clear night (which was tremendous). We were instead treated to some intense and dramatic monsoon storms for two days. Below are several pictures from the trip- so instead of rambling on about spending time with my son and good friends, here are some pictures...
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| Thursday night thunderstorm- looking north |
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| Same cell, a few minutes later! |
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| After dark, cloud to cloud lightning illuminating the sky with stars in the background |
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| Friday night, a pass of the International Space Station through a hold in the clouds |
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| Clouds did clear somewhat late Friday night, allowing for this shot of the Milky Way |
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| Milky Way at last! Saturday night was our reward (Horizon is blurred due to tracking on stars) |
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| Looking to the northeast Saturday night, lots of green airglow (which was noticeable to the eye) |
So that is the Portal roundup- we observed many objects through several telescopes, but the best part was being with great people under desert skies.
