Star Party Nightime

Kodak 400 NC - Tachihara 4x5 field camera w/135mm lens @ f/5.6 - 110 min. exp. - photo � Bill and Sally Fletcher

This scene is recreated all over the world whenever astronomy enthusiasts gather at dark sites to share views through their telescopes. This is Mt. Pinos, California at dark of the moon in mid summer. The red at the bottom of the photo are the red flashlights lights of the astronomers. Red light is used because it doesn't cause the eyes to lose dark adaptation which takes 15 to 20 minutes to achieve. The streaks at the top are "star triails" which are caused by stars smearing on the long exposure photograph as the Earth spins.

Mt. Pinos is a wonderful mountain covered with Lodgepole pines at 8350 feet. Many of So. California's amateur astronomers come here for its high altitude, excellant "seeing" (low atmosphereic disturbance) and dark skies (unfortunately it is getting less dark every year due to increased developement in the area). However, with the aid of dense coastal fog that envelopes the light polluted cities, there are plenty of superb nights of deep sky enjoyment to be shared.

Please see the previous photo of this scene which was taken that day - "Star Pary Daytime".

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