When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
A few months back I was reminded that I was remiss in scheduling proper club star parties. Thus I set about fixing that!
Thus I compromised at using my favorite site at Kaʻohe. At 5,800ft the site is lower, warmer, and less windy than the VIS. It also represents about half the drive time it takes to get to the VIS, without the tourist crowd. The site is higher and offers more reliable skies than the Puʻu Kuainiho site
A dark night under the stars! It has been too long… Why not?
After all the work restoring the 20″ Obsession it was time to get it out under the stars for a decent observing run. During the many hours of work I had looked forward to simply using this telescope for a bit. While it would eventually be stored at the observatory and used for outreach, it seemed a shame not to spend a night or two under the stars with this instrument. Not like I need a 20″ telescope, my 18″ is just fine, but I loaded it up just the same, leaving Deep Violet in the garage.
My favorite close by site is KaʻOhe, taking only a twenty minute drive from home to reach. At 5,700 feet on the side of Mauna Kea nearby home does not mean second rate. I really like this spot, the view is spectacular with the coastline below and the Mauna Loa and Hualālai volcanoes dominating the horizon. The entire southern horizon is unobstructed, allowing observations of southern objects right down to the horizon.
Better yet, recent rains meant green grass and a spot near the road maintenance gravel pile was hard packed rock, no dust! The area had even been mown recently! I sometimes have a few uncharitable words to describe DLNR, but not this evening.