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Saturday Night Viewing at Area 51 in Big Cypress National Preserve
September 27, 2003
Jim Mayes
After a flurry of phone calls and much hand wringing about the weather the
decision was made to go to Area 51. As a few of us had not been there
before, we were to meet in an area after the tollbooth on the Sawgrass
Expressway and caravan to the observing site. I arrived to find Jim K.,
John C., Dan W. and George D. already there. When Mike G. arrived a few
minutes later our group was complete and we headed out. On the way we
encountered several frog strangling downpours, the kind that slow traffic
on a 70 MPH highway to 35. Eventually we reached the "exit" to Area 51.
This "exit" is a steep dirt road with a sharp turn at the bottom. After
navigating this you arrive at a dirt road parallel to a canal. At the end
of this road is the observing area.
We parked but did not set up because of threatening weather. The "exit" was
discussed and how it would be impossible to bring a trailer down it.
Headlights were sighted far down the road. George's binoculars revealed it
was our intrepid leader Fred Lehman heading down the road pulling his trailer.
After questioned about bringing a trailer he said it was no problem getting
down, getting up was the tricky part because it required a running start.
As Fred updated the web site the next day, I assume he made it back out
and is not stranded. Jim K. tried to scare off an alligator lurking in the
canal by throwing rocks. His accuracy was greeted with apathy by the
reptile. There was also a dead alligator on the bank not far from where we
were. We soon retreated to our vehicles when another rainstorm came over
us. It passed and the skies cleared enough to set up our equipment. As
darkness deepened, fewer clouds were in the sky and the Milky Way arched
above us.
It became an evening of frustrations. Jim K. had software problems, John
C.'s camera stopped working, Dan W. had a problem with his mirror cell and
could not collimate his telescope and Fred L. had dew issues to deal with.
The observing list I brought turned out to be inappropriate for the night.
The few objects I did find seemed to take a long time to find. I attribute
this to a lack of practice in the past few months rather than to advancing
age. Also the transparency, which had been good earlier, worsened, though
the seeing seemed steady. But fewer stars appeared in the sky and the stuff
I was looking for was faint. Remember the dead alligator? The wind shifted
and it was no longer necessary to see it to know it was there. Around 1:00
AM, John C. left, soon followed by Dan W. and myself.
It was great to able to observe again!
Fred Lehman
Although we experienced a few drops of rain just at sunset, the skies
cleared up nicely by 8 PM. As is normal for this time of the year, we
suffered a few spats of clouds and an occasional ribbon of haze, but
the sky was dark and the air was very stable after 10 PM. The Milky
Way was an incredible blaze of light from the southern horizon up
through the zenith to Cassiopia and beyond. There were seven members
in attendance.
Some of the guys complained a little about rain, clouds, humidity, and
dead alligators, but I was just happy to be out in the darkness with
my telescope.
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