South Central Kansas or possibly North central Oklahoma. Very dark skies
and about 70% of the time there is clear weather.


On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 20:19:08 -0700, Matt Gabriel, Mad Poet of Newport
wrote:

OK, so you've won the lotto*, and you've hired the architect to build
the two-story roll-away roofed observatory for all the neat glass
you've been wanting... but where to situate it?

It shouls be remote enough where you won't have to worry about light
pollution or rich yuppies moving in next door to hold flood-lit wine
parties all night. If need be, you can truck in your own water, and
run a (decently muffled) generator by day, or even set up a little
solar farm. Off the grid isn't an issue. (Tho it might be nice to have
internet... hey, you're rich*, you can have the telco build out to
within line of sight, and set up a microwave link.)

It should, most importantly have clear skies! Looking at precipitation
is one indicator, but getting crystal clear, edge-to-edge views is the
goal. Not much rain, but lots of little fluffy clouds all year 'round
would be a bummer, as would lots of atmospheric movement, and lots of
air traffic overhead.

Desert or plains? Flatland, or hilltop? Is Death Valley too low? Is
Colorado too high? Is the desert of Utah too dusty for open celled
scopes? Are the Dakota badlands too cold in winter?

Have fun with this one, weather geeks!

~ Matt Gabriel, Mad Poet

*strictly hypothetical. Daydreaming about the ideal amateur astronomy
observatory for get-away-from-it-all vacationing is a fine way to pass
cloudy nights.