[Chaos-l] Observing session at Oxford site Tonight!

[Jon]

Hi all.  According to the web page, tonight is the December observing  
session at the Oxford site.  The sky-clock predicts cloudless skies  
until 10:00ish, but with decreasing transparency and increasing seeing  
as the night goes on. The Weather Underground:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/ 
getForecast?query=27565&hourly=1&yday=335&weekday=Friday

predicts much the same, with temperatures in the low thirties, but no  
dew or frost.

The first half of the night will probably be one of those extraordinary  
winter nights which are so good for deep-sky observing.  The second  
half will probably be increasingly good for planetary observing, if  
Mars is still close enough to see detail.

The web page says the start time is 6:00, but i've always been a bit  
confused as to what that exactly means: whether that's the time we  
arrive at the East Chapel Hill High School Bus Lot (ECHHSBL), the time  
we leave the ECHHSBL, or the time we arrive at the observing site.  If  
the latter, i just can't do it.  If the former, i could probably make  
it, but it would be somewhat difficult.  The footnote on the observing  
session page says "* These times were chosen to be about 15 to 40  
minutes after sunset. They are intended to be the times when everyone  
gets to ECHHS for car-pooling". My plan at this time is to _leave_ the  
ECHHSBL at 6:30.  That would get us to the site at around 7:30, and  
give us about 2 1/2 hours of very good observing.

Just a quick reminder that this kind of weather feels much colder when  
you're relatively inactive, so dress in layers, wear a "real" hat (30%  
of your body heat and all that), and pay special attention to your  
feet.  In my experience, once your feet get cold during observing, you  
can never get them warm again.

Looking forward to a good session.  Could we have a show of hands for  
people interested in going tonight?

J.

-- 
Jon Stewart-Taylor: jcst at tripod.net
Chapel Hill Astronomy: http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos/