Beginning astronomers that
live near
Albuquerque New Mexico have some wonderful advantages. Some
of
these great opportunities are as follows:
- New Mexico skies.
- New Mexico has less light pollution than many areas of
North
America or Europe. Chaco canyon observatory is one of the
darkest
areas anywhere.
- New Mexico has good observing sites located at 5000 to
9000
feet elevation.
- The air here is DRY. Transparency and seeing
are
sometimes superb.
- Cloudless days and nights, with the exception of the
monsoon
season each summer.
- TAAS, (The Albuquerque Astronomical Society) my local
Astronomy
club, is one of the best. Link
to
TAAS. Just a few of it's advantages are:
- Great monthly meetings. Last night we had a
speaker from
NASA who spoke on just a few of the discoveries made by the Hubble
Space Telescope.
- Active ATM group. This group has been going
since the mid
90's.
- Good outreach group. Once a month, TAAS will
generally be
out giving star parties to the kids at some school or another.
- GNTO observatory. This is a world class
observatory. Go to the TAAS web site, and click on the link
to
GNTO. Join the club, and come see it!
- Ongoing Messier Special Interest Group. This is
a GREAT
way to learn the night skies and meet other people who are also
learning about Astronomy. And, Dee is going a great job as
mentor
of this group!
- We are a reasonable drive from the following:
- Chaco Canyon. This National Historical Park,
with
exquisite dark skies, hosts a 25" telescope. Chaco
Night Sky
Program
- The VLA (Very Large Array), also known as the NRAO
(National
Radio
Astronomy Observatory). This is one of the 3 most important
telescopes of ALL time. National
Radio Astronomy Observatory Home
- The future site of the Magdalena Ridge
Observatory. This
10
telescope interferometer is currently under
construction. Magdalena
Ridge
Observatory Home
- University of New Mexico and New Mexico Tech Astronomy
and
Astrophysics groups.
- Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff Arizona.
New Mexico Observing Sites
- GNTO (See TAAS above)
- Light pollution score: GREEN. Light pollution
is almost
all to the north.
- Seeing: Generally good, occasionally very good.
This site
was chosen for good seeing.
- Transparency: Generally good.
- Altitude: about 4500 feet.
- Access: Dirt road. Contact TAAS for details.
- Amenities: pit toilet, warming room, 16"
observatory.
110v power.
- Time from Albuquerque: 1 hour.
- More info: TAAS
Website
- Clear sky clock for GNTO
- Datil Wells
- Light pollution score: DARK BLACK. No light
domes at
all. Possible subtle slight brightening on the north east
horizon
from Albuquerque.
- Seeing: My experience has been good, and fair.
- Transparency - Unbelievably fabulous. I saw the
horsehead
with direct vision, narrow band filter, on DS-3 (a 12" dob).
Stars were casting shadows. Mars was the brightest light
within
sight, and was TOO bright. The Milky Way was overwhelming,
with
great detail in the dust clouds. Cassiopeia was hard to find
among all of the bright stars.
- Altitude: about 7500 feet. May snow in winter,
but spring
and fall are probably fine.
- Access: Paved road. This site is about 20
minutes west of
the VLA.
- Amenities: pit toilet, 10 or so campgrounds, 4 or so
miles of
hikes, juniper/pinion forest. Near the town of Datil (one
major
building - restaurant/bar/gas/hardware store/ grocery/restroom).
- Time from Albuquerque: 2.5 to 3 hours.
- More info: Datil
Wells, BLM
- Clear sky clock for Pie
Town
(closest point to Datil):