Griffin Ranch

August 15th 2009

Taking advantage of a dry spot in the monsoons, we headed out for a one nighter at the ranch. This time we set up on the south side of Haystack Butte Road. One of the ranch hands stopped on the way back from checking stock tanks and stayed for a couple of hours and enjoyed his first views through a telescope.

Just before dark, waiting for the stars to come out.

Getting closer....

Some wide field shots of the Sagittarius area of the Milky Way. Shot with the Rebel XSi and the Sigma 15-30 zoom. 1600 at f3.5, field rotation was creeping in a bit. A casual polar alignment was the cause.

June 6th & 7th 2008

First time out to this site. Ken Sikes and I headed out Friday afternoon to see what the skies are like out at this site. I was quite impressed!

Looking West.

Here are some SQM readings:

Time / Date
Reading Direction*

12:10am 06/07/2008
21.77 Zenith

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.80 North

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.76 East

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.40 West

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.61 South

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.95 Darkest Part

2:15am 06/07/2008 21.78 Zenith

* Held at a 40° angle from horizontal

If you have Streets & Trips, here is a GPS trail out there: Griffin Ranch from the 202/60 stack

Panorama of the Site. Warning!! 2 MB file!!

Time / Date	Reading	Direction*
12:10am 06/07/2008	21.77	Zenith
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.80	North
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.76	East
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.40	West
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.61	South
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.95	Darkest Part
2:15am 06/07/2008	21.78	Zenith