Observing Report: G.W. Helipad

Background:  On Saturday 3 Sept. 2005 I went to what we call the "helicopter landing pad" (because it was supposedly cleared by the National Forest Service for helicopter operations) in the George Washington National Forest east of New Market, Va. (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/).  Several other members of NOVAC "discovered" this site in the early 2000's, then it appeared to fall into disuse as an observing site for a few years. 

I've made a dozen trips to it since then; it has one light dome --from Harrisonburg, VA-- that extends ~15 degrees up along the southern horizon, but otherwise is pretty good.  In fact, it is located ~35 miles due east of Spruce Knob West Va., reputedly the darkest observing site in the Eastern U.S. and home of the "year round star party" (http://www.novac.com/spruce/).  Its' main advantage over Spruce Knob to me is accessibility -- at 2 hours one way drive from my house, it is within range for an overnight observing session (with a nap in the morning before the return drive), whereas Spruce Knob entails 8+ hours of round trip driving and thus virtually requires the investment of an entire (scarce) weekend to make the trip worthwhile. 

The biggest drawbacks of the G.W. pad are the sometimes fierce winds, and the local light intrusion that comes either from underage kids using the site as a drinking/partying site (complete with bonfires), and the hunters who come down to that stretch of road from the hills in the middle of the night in their headlight-adorned pickups and SUV's because it has the only cell phone coverage within miles.  Both can ruin your night vision in a hurry, though conversely they can offer some "unusual" opportunities for public outreach and viewing.  (see below for my solution...)

On this night I was taking advantage of the prolonged spell of good weather-- I've never seen so many 'dark blue blocks' on the Clear Sky Clock-- to test Natasha under dark conditions.   It was the best night I've had at the Pad, and probably the best observing I've had outside of New Mexico since I got back into amateur astronomy in 2000.  Transparency was excellent-- Limiting magnitude at zenith was 6.3+ with direct vision, and ranged as high as 6.5 with averted vision.  (Anyone reading this from the deserts of the Southwest is probably snickering loudly right about now...)  M-8/the Lagoon Nebula was a very distinct naked eye object.  M-31/the Andromeda Galaxy was so prominent that I could make out its oval shape and see its core extending for several degrees.  Through the scope, the Veil and North American nebula were quite prominent without the use of a filter.  This was a special treat for me, since it let me use the Nagler 31 on these objects.  (My Astronomik filters are 1.25" dia., so they normally reside on the Panoptic 22mm.)  This was my first evening of using my Sky Commander Flash 4 Digital Setting Circles, and I was impressed by their accuracy.  The "search" mode on the DSC's is a real hoot for someone like me who likes to relax by cruising randomly around the sky.  I can now identify the "faint fuzzies" I stumble across without having to drag out an atlas or the computer.  In terms of planets, I looked at Venus and Jupiter-- quite mediocre through the soup on the horizon-- and found Mars less impressive than usual, too.  (Chalk it up to the merely average seeing.)  This was clearly a night to revel in the Deep Sky Objects, and I took full advantage of it.  Clearly, a "night to remember".   Too bad I'd left my observing log book at home, but good thing I had my old one as a backup.

The low temperature was 48 degrees F., and we had very heavy dew (see image at right.)

A view of the G.W. site I took in 2003

That's a lot of dew!  "The morning after" at the G.W. site