Nightfall 2011
My first time to Nightfall. Nightfall is held that the Palm Canyon Resort in Borrego Springs, abut 1.5 hrs south of Palm Springs. Just taking it easy with my head in a book.
Nightfall 2011
Again, Fred got an RV slip for himself and let me set up with him. Only about 50 yards away is the hotel part of the resort. I got myself a room and could go back and forth as needed. A pretty cool arrangement.
Nightfall 2011
Al got a picture of Fred and myself doing what we do best - nothing :)
Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011




Nightfall 2011
A bashful Fred getting all of his cables set.
Nightfall 2011
Fred and his Sprinter. The other guys are from the Riverside group, I think.
Nightfall 2011
Here's my rig. By this time Fred and I both have the exact same equipment. An Orion 190mm f/5.3 on a Losmandy G11 and an SBIG ST-4000XCM camera. The weather was very comfortable during the day, but the temps stayed warm at night. Fred and I could only get our cameras cooled to -12 degrees. Not disasterous, but -24 or so would help improve the images considerably.
Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011




Nightfall 2011
Al really did his homework and reserved the best spot of all - a corner spot with the least amount of trees around.
Nightfall 2011
He even brought an electric bike that gets him into town and back.
Nightfall 2011
And there he is... :)
Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011




Nightfall 2011
Al has a great set up. He carrries all of his gear packed efficiently in his trailer. He does his imaging with the 12" SCT there in the front while he does visual observing with his big 18" computerized Dob.
Nightfall 2011
Al's big Dobsonian. Under really dark skies you can see some extremely difficult to observe objects. It sucks in a lot of light.
Nightfall 2011
Sunset in Borrego Springs, October 2011.
Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011 Nightfall 2011