Stargazing Site Report: Exit 45

I've never been really scared driving at night until I decided to venture out of my area to check out exit 45, east from Seattle on I-90. I learned that this was a stargazing site far from the skyglow of any city and wanted to see what it was all about.

25mins after we (my wife and I) left our house, we got to exit 45 which is quite far from Seattle. The road pretty much leads to nowhere so there is nothing - no lights, dead ends and dirt roads. Driving off of the safe highway, we turned onto the exit, then went another 3 miles on a one-lane dirt road to the site which was supposed to be a clearing. Because of the darkness and bumpy nature of the road, it was a bit scary driving it, knowing that if anything happened to you help would be very far away. The trees didn't help either as they were leaning over the road so much you couldn't see the sky so it was very much like out of a scary movie. After a tense moment of hearing a very strange sound suddenly emanating from the left front tire (a rock had got into the break) we finally got to the clearing, which there was one other car present.

My wife was too scared to get out of the car so I got out to assess the car and location. After looking at the car and seeing that it was fine, I broke out the binoculars and looked at Andromeda. I could already tell that the viewing was better than from my house, but the full moon pretty much ruined any proper location evaluation.

I'm not sure if I'll ever go back there again as it was so remote that you really feel like you could be in danger from something, but then again I'm sure it would have been a great site to view the skies on a dark night. My suggestion is to bring a group of people along, and go earlier when there is some daylight to make the trip less scary.

I'm always looking for a good stargazing area, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Tonight's Stargazing

FINALLY it was a 90% clear night tonight and was able to take the new Orion binoculars for a spin. What I love about the Orion 20x80's is that you see SO many more stars than you can see with the naked eye it's really like looking at an entirely different night sky.

I really wanted to see if I could locate a nebula tonight but was unsuccessful...what I did see was as follows:

Andromeda Galaxy (M31, 4.8mag)
Easy to find once you know where to look, Andromeda is viewable with a 15x50, and of course even that much brighter with the 20x80. I still couldn't make out any detail however and looked like a dim blur.

M15 (Globular Cluster, 6.2mag)
I thought this was a galaxy, but turned out it was a globular cluster. I was never able to find this with the 15x50 binoculars, but was easily resolved using the 20x80 (but still looked like a faint blur).

NGC457 (Galactic Cluster, 6.4mag)
An interesting formation of stars which is easily seen with 20x80 binoculars.

M45 (Galactic Cluster, 1.5mag)
Always a cool formation of stars which is easily seen with 20x80 binoculars.

Jupiter & Moons
All 4 moons were very easily visible and I think I saw a hint of cloud detail on Jupiter. Very sharp using the 20x80 binoculars.

Well that's about it...going to he sack now...

Reading Material & Why Space?

So why the interest in space/stargazing? Well for me personally I've been interested in space all my life but only recently have I started into the act of stargazing. I never had a telescope before and that was mostly because when I was young I was more interested in video games and girls than anything else.

Now at this stage in my life I can finally explore for myself the wonders of our own Milky Way galaxy as well as objects beyond our galaxy into the great unknown vastness of the universe.

Sounds cool right? And anyone can do it, even on the cheap.

For less than a cost of a Wii, you could get a telescope that can see the rings of Saturn, or the moons of Jupiter...even the polar ice caps of Mars and beyond. But with anything you buy, you will need a manual - more precisely, a guide...and the following books/magazines are what I recommend you look into...

Turn Left At Orion
Very highly rated book made for observers with small scopes or binoculars. Each object is shown as it looks in the eyepiece (so no unrealistic Hubble photos here).

Stargazing Secrets
Another good book that is packed with the best objects to look at during the current month. Has full color images and often shows what objects will look like with a larger scope or with a CCD camera.

Celestial Sampler
A magazine-style guide which is great for taking on trips or for quick stargazing sessions in the backyard. Has about 60 objects featured so not as much as the other books.

And of course the best monthly magazine to read up on space stuff is Sky & Telescope magazine, especially if you are just getting into stargazing.