How Do I - Is it worth traveling to a Dark Sky Site during a nearly full moon?

It figures, but she who must be obeyed is going out of town with the
kids on 7/4. That leaves me the night of 7/4 for as much viewing as I
want...only what, 3 days past the full moon?

Drat!

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

Thanks for the advice.

Clear, Dark Skies

Mark

"Mark Smith" wrote in message
...
It figures, but she who must be obeyed is going out of town with the
kids on 7/4. That leaves me the night of 7/4 for as much viewing as I
want...only what, 3 days past the full moon?

Drat!

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

Thanks for the advice.

Clear, Dark Skies

Mark

You're always better off viewing from a dark sky site, but during a full
moon there is no such thing as a dark sky site. So stay home and view from
your backyard before the moon comes up...then pack up and go to a good
movie.

Al

"Mark Smith" wrote in message
...
It figures, but she who must be obeyed is going out of town with the
kids on 7/4. That leaves me the night of 7/4 for as much viewing as I
want...only what, 3 days past the full moon?

Drat!

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

Thanks for the advice.

Clear, Dark Skies

Mark

You're always better off viewing from a dark sky site, but during a full
moon there is no such thing as a dark sky site. So stay home and view from
your backyard before the moon comes up...then pack up and go to a good
movie.

Al

Or, watch the Moon! See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing

Or, the planets!

Or, double stars!

Or, ...

Al wrote:

So stay home and view from
your backyard before the moon comes up...then pack up and go to a good
movie.

--
Tom Rankin - Programmer by day, amateur astronomer by night!
Mid-Hudson Astronomy Association - http://mhaa.whodeanie.com
Views and Brews - http://viewsandbrews.whodeanie.com

When replying, remove the capital letters from my email address.

Or, watch the Moon! See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing

Or, the planets!

Or, double stars!

Or, ...

Al wrote:

So stay home and view from
your backyard before the moon comes up...then pack up and go to a good
movie.

--
Tom Rankin - Programmer by day, amateur astronomer by night!
Mid-Hudson Astronomy Association - http://mhaa.whodeanie.com
Views and Brews - http://viewsandbrews.whodeanie.com

When replying, remove the capital letters from my email address.

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

The moon rises at 10:30pm on July 4. Not too bad, might get in a hour and a
half of observing...

Of course, if its cloudy in San Diego, you will gain a lot. If it is not
cloudy, the air will be more transparent and less haze, something of an
advantage.

But if it clear in San Diego, the moon is too bright, not such a great target
but double stars are always fun and the various clusters in Scorpius and
Saggitarius (and all the others) provide some fun. And then there is the Ring
and the Dumbbell, M56 and M71.

Best thing to do:

See for yourself, thats the only way you can know.

jon

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

The moon rises at 10:30pm on July 4. Not too bad, might get in a hour and a
half of observing...

Of course, if its cloudy in San Diego, you will gain a lot. If it is not
cloudy, the air will be more transparent and less haze, something of an
advantage.

But if it clear in San Diego, the moon is too bright, not such a great target
but double stars are always fun and the various clusters in Scorpius and
Saggitarius (and all the others) provide some fun. And then there is the Ring
and the Dumbbell, M56 and M71.

Best thing to do:

See for yourself, thats the only way you can know.

jon

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

Probably best to make it a Jupiter and doubles night at home. DSOs
with a full moon around are a profoundly pale shadow of their dark sky
selves, IMO certainly not worth a 1+ hour drive. But that's me: I
consider DSOs a waste of time even in the city where I can be at a
decent site in about fifteen minutes. A dark site with full moon is
roughly equivalent to observing from a large city.

But there's a lot to be said for the peace and quiet of a remote site
even if the session isn't technically fruitful. I've driven out to my
usual site a few times during full moon. A couple of those nights I
definitely wish I had back so I could do something else and make up
for the lost time. But I've also had a couple of fun sessions, mostly
when I just had a need to get out into the country, hear the sounds of
nature, etc.

Cheers,
Ritesh

Assuming the fog clears out, am I better off going to a dark sky site
or simply viewing from my suburban San Diego back yard? I guess the
real question for those of you with more experience is, how much will
I gain by making the trip east?

Probably best to make it a Jupiter and doubles night at home. DSOs
with a full moon around are a profoundly pale shadow of their dark sky
selves, IMO certainly not worth a 1+ hour drive. But that's me: I
consider DSOs a waste of time even in the city where I can be at a
decent site in about fifteen minutes. A dark site with full moon is
roughly equivalent to observing from a large city.

But there's a lot to be said for the peace and quiet of a remote site
even if the session isn't technically fruitful. I've driven out to my
usual site a few times during full moon. A couple of those nights I
definitely wish I had back so I could do something else and make up
for the lost time. But I've also had a couple of fun sessions, mostly
when I just had a need to get out into the country, hear the sounds of
nature, etc.

Cheers,
Ritesh

I wouldn't bother going out of the yard on a moonlit night unless there were
some event that I couldn't see below my horizon (comets come to mind). I
also find that observing the moon is a perfect way to satisfy the itch to
get outside and do something interesting with my equipment.

My kids like to look at the moon through the telescope as well, so I often
just use the ST80 on the UniStar Light. It easily lowers to their viewing
height, and the views are good enough for me as well. Not to mention how
easy it is to walk it out the backyard all in one piece.

That said, the view of the moon through the 8" SCT is superb and through the
12.5" Meade reflector it's absolutely amazing. Both are crisp, clear, and
well resolved to the limit of the local atmosphere. I just have to want to
put in the extra effort to get those views, which for the moon turns out to
more often than not, not be the case. The ST80 views are perfectly fine, and
the ease of setting up and breaking down just adds to the pleasure of the
experience.
--
-Stephen Paul