July was another busy month for Skyscrapers, starting with our annual cookout on July 10th that was very successful and well attended. I would like to thank Dolores and Ken Rinaldi, and Jack and Ileen Szelka for all of their help with the cookout this year. And then there was the trip to the University of California’s research center located at an elevation of 10,150 feet above sea level on the top of White Mountain. Twenty one intrepid Skyscrapers made the journey and met up with five of Al Hall’s friends at the research center, and we were all treated to some magnificent views through the telescopes they brought – a 5” Astro-Physics refractor, an 8” Celestron Cassegrain, and a 22” F5.6 Dobsonian. The filamentary detail in the Veil nebula was beyond belief in the 22” and it was also very easy to see the Veil in a pair of 10x50mm binoculars. Most observers were able to see the central star in the Ring Nebula winking in and out through the 22” Dob. Objects like the globular cluster M13 in Hercules, the spiral galaxy M33 in Triangulum, and the Lagoon Nebula M8 in Sagittarius were all naked eye objects under these very dark skies! The Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon and offered up more detail than I’ve ever seen before! The weather cooperated on all three nights that we spent on the mountain.
During the day there was time for some sightseeing, which included trips to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which features the oldest living things on the Earth. Many of these trees are 4,000 years old and there is one, known as Methuselah that is over 5,000 years old! Mono Lake was another interesting destination spot, famous for its Tufa formations. Tufa forms under Mono Lake’s waters. When fresh water springs bubble up through the carbonate-rich lake water, the calcium and carbonates react to form a calcium carbonate salt deposit, which is called a Tufa. This solid, limestone-like material continues to develop, eventually forming vertical towers with spring water percolating up through and around them. Since the lake has been receding for years now, many of these features are visible along the lakeshore creating a very beautiful but alien landscape.
We spent our first and last night of the trip at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. The first day it was 118 degrees and the last day it was 123 degrees! Death Valley was a geologist’s paradise! We all visited Badwater Basin in Death Valley, which at 282 feet below sea level is the fifth lowest elevation in the world (first in the continental US). Photos of Badwater and other points of interest from Death Valley like the Artists Pallet, Devils Golf Course, Titus Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, and more, can be seen on the Skyscrapers website at www.theskyscrapers.org.
Thanks to Bob Horton for organizing such a wonderful trip! Unfortunately, Bob’s father passed away on Saturday July 17th and Bob was not able to go with us. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Bob and his family.
