This late summer warm night was back to business after a rough night the previous month. Date: September 15-16, 2023 Location: Amboy Crater, CA Time 21:00-4:00 (UTC-7) Weather Warm with high winds until 11pm; 100°- 80° F Bortle Scale 2 … Continue reading Autumn Sights over Amboy | September 15-16, 2023
Beautiful red rock cliffs, high desert/plateau landscape, nice dark skies with no light pollution… Toto, I don’t think we’re in the Mojave Desert anymore… Date: May 21-23, 2023 Location: Ghost Ranch, New Mexico Time 22:00-4:00 (UTC-6) Weather Periods between Clear … Continue reading Two Days and Two Nights at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico | May 21-23, 2023
Date: April 21-22, 2023 Location: Cottonwood Spring, Joshua Tree National Park Time 20:00-2:00 (UTC-7) Weather clear with light breeze; 60°- 40° F Bortle Scale 3 Elevation 3,000 ft Landscape High Desert Equipment Used At first, the night did not go … Continue reading Chipping Away The Leftover Messier Collection – Joshua Tree National Park | April 21-22, 2023
The “wet season” of 2022 into 2023 had an unusually HIGH amount of rain this time around, which meant more days of poor weather, making trips out to the deep sky hard to plan. This trip was during a break … Continue reading A Galaxy and a Dwarf Planet – Joshua Tree National Park | March 24-25, 2023
After months of bad weather every new moon AND stupid high gas prices… blame who you will on that one… I finally returned to do what I do best! Date: October 27-28, 2022 Location: Cottonwood Spring, Joshua Tree National Park … Continue reading The Return of the Astro Imager – Joshua Tree National Park | October 27, 2022
Imagine three astronomy apps telling you it will be clear only to drive 100 miles and see high altitude clouds covering your sky… how would you react? What would be your instinct? Well, on this night, my instincts served me … Continue reading Messier Hunting and a Coma Cluster – Joshua Tree National Park, April 4, 2022
It is rare, but it happens! If you are going to drive out a 100 miles from your residence to a dark location, don’t forget to charge the battery for your telescope! At least when I came out the next … Continue reading Making Up For A Prior Night’s Cut Short | September 6 and October 5-6, 2021
It’s always a plus when your monthly stargazing trips to the California Desert also coincide with a meteor shower. While I did not go on the actual peak night due to poor weather – going the night after a Perseid … Continue reading Successes and Snags during a Perseid Remnant Night | August 12-13, 2021
ORION BEAR ASTRONOMY 