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Golden State Star Party 2026
We were there for five nights. The first and last nights were
absolutely perfect for observing. Unfortunately, nights 2, 3 and 4
were all clouded out, so we broke out the wine and cookies and
had some good times with our neighbors |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Here's Barbara on our first full day at GSSP taking shelter from the Sun. Looks like we just finished lunch. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
This is our campsite. There's my U-haul Cargo Van on the left and Barbara's orange tent on the right |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Even though we got clouded out most nights, we got to enjoy sunsets like this every night. |
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Golden State Star Party 2026
Just a little different view of the preceding picture. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Barbara and Jeff. Jeff took over from me as president of the Santa Cruz Astronomy Club when I moved to Lincoln. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Bill, another Santa Cruz buddy, Ron and Jeff at the registration tent starting our gate-duty shift. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
It's dinner time. Bill, Ron, Al (from S.C.), Barbara and our next door neighbor, Kathleen. |
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Golden State Star Party 2026
This is a wider field view of Dob Alley. There are still a lot more of the big Dobs that haven't shown up yet. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
A little closer view of the Valley of the Dobs. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
One afternoon some of us went into town to Oneys for one of their world famous milkshakes. Really big and made with real ice cream. Here's Jeff, Me and Barbara. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Switching camera person - now we have Kathleen added in. Kathleen was brand new to astronomy, not yet even having a telescope. She wanted to see some scopes in action before buying. |
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Golden State Star Party 2026
Yep. This is what we do all day waiting for the stars to come out. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
A nice sunset, again. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Same sunset, just a slightly different view. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
A little later with the same sunset. I like this one because you can see the shadow portrait of Barbara and me. |
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Golden State Star Party 2026
I took the same sunset picture and lightened it up a bit so we can see us a little better. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Just after Jeff finished setting up his big Dobsonian telescope. His supervisory crew: Barbara, Jeff and Kathleen. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
I just happened to stop right there to get a picture of Jeff's scope. If you just add a cigarette and a sarape, I'd look just like... |
Golden State Star Party 2026
A shot off to the south-east sunset clouds. |
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Golden State Star Party 2026
Here are a number of sunset pictures. We didn't get much observing in, but we got this every day. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Gotta get one with my rig. :) |
Golden State Star Party 2026 |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Barbara soaking in the sunset. |
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| Golden State Star Party 2026 | Golden State Star Party 2026 |
Golden State Star Party 2026
Another one of Barbara. This picture was lightened up a bit. |
Golden State Star Party 2026
One last sunset for this year. |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
First thing that Barbara noticed was the alfalfa fields down below. The observing field is up on a kind of plateau. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
More alfalfa fields. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
As the crow flies, I'm guessing that our spectacular view of Mt. Shasta is only about 20-30 miles away. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Just about every evening we had the most glorious sunsets. |
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| Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026 | Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026 | Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026 |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
The streets are laid out according to the Solar System. We set up with the Santa Cruz guys on the corner of Main Street and Saturn. |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Some random telescopes. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Here's a look at Dob Alley. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
And a little closer view of Dob Alley. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
The hospitality tent right after it went up on the first day. |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
The vendors area. ZWO has a nice collection of planetary cameras. TeleVue has some great eyepieces. You can trade your drivers license for an eyepiece that you can use for a night. They always do a bang-up business at star parties. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Some more street signs heading off toward the Oort Cloud where the hard-core imagers set up. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
The alfalfa fields - looking to the North. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Not sure what this is, probably an old part of the fencing. |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
MOS (More of the Same). |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
A nice shot of Mt. Shasta. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Our campsite is just off the left side. That's Al's Sprinter in the center. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
A chronic napping condition. :-) |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Looking a little south of west. These are the type of clouds that we had all week. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Ron's post-lunch power nap. |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
Some of the best sunsets... |
Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
And more... |
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Barbara's Golden State Star Party 2026
And finally, there's Ron checking to see what objects might be available to look at if the weather holds up - which it didn't. :-) |
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Except as noted, all images Copyright © by Ron Yelton and may not be used without permission.
Contact Ron at Aileron355@aol.com