Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
Hi John,
How are things doing at Comanche Springs?
Andrew, Van, Anne & myself spent a fabulous day at Canyon de Chelly
which for me fulfilled a life-time ambition to finally see this absolutely
wonderful place. The canyon itself is increadibly beautiful and spectacular
and added to it are the spectacle of the archeological ruins. The White
House ruin perched on the canyon wall is unforgettable as are the views
down into the canyon from above.
The afternoon saw amazingly cold 41F temperatures plus wind chill
at Monument Valley. With icey hands we snapped over 800 photographs
between us just today.
We plan on getting up at 4am for the sunrise and will be heading north
into Utah to Mexican Hat.
Chaco Canyon yesterday was equally fabulous and we paid a visit to
John Sefick who gave us a walk around of the observatory.
Best regards
Gary Kopff
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Hi all,
Well I have had my share of excitement at Comanche Springs. Here is a picture of the 15" Refractor at Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus. If the scope doesn't look that big in the photograph, consider these things to get it in perspective. It is in a 10 metre dome. The observing gantry under the scope is 6 feet tall. Finally, consider that the finder scope sitting on top of the main scope, which looks like a "toy" by comparison, is a 6"/F12 refractor. It is one enormous and excellent telescope. The scope has a 4.6 metre focal length and I was using a 12mm Nagler last night to look at the Moon and Saturn at 381X for outstanding views. Unfortunately, while the scope had plenty up its sleeve at this power, I ran out of seeing when I went to the next highest power eyepiece, which was a 9mm Nagler at 508X.
CS-John B