Seeing Stars

The first night my husband arrived in Arizona, he was freaked out by the brilliance of the Milky Way. We came here from Chicago; a narrow corridor aiming out across Lake Michigan was the only piece of comparatively unlit sky where we could get a decent look at the stars and planets. Believe it or not, my first sight of Saturn's rings was inside the city of Chicago!

This is all by way of saying that astronomy was high on the list of reasons that brought us out to these parts. Get a ridge between yourself and Prescott and the seeing can be impressive. Not suprising that we have an active astronomy club here. The recent exhibit at the new, improved library is just one of their activities that range from star parties to telescope making to educational meetings at the library. The last of the spring star parties will be held this weekend at Watson Lake; check the web site above for further info.

There are several private observatories in the Prescott region; I know of one in Hootenany Holler, another up in the Mountain Club area, and photographer/blogger Edward Registrato operates two, one in Dewey and the other in Peoria. When we first moved to the highlands, one of the country's pre-eminent grinders of astronomical glass lived and worked here; we also met a chap who was making interesting refractors back in the aught-80s.

Our most exciting discovery when we settled down on the other side of the Prietas was a comet, a new one that didn't get mentioned in the papers for several days. Our two most discouraging discoveries were 1) the desert dew problem and 2) the chill you can get at night in mid-summer, radiating all your heat into outer space (temp., slightly above absolute zero, which is why long underwear and an umbrella are recommended for long observing sessions -- even in the hottest weather!)

In passing: there's a permanent outer space display on the ceiling at the Booknook over on Gurley Street (above). Marilyn, the proprietor, is an active amateur astronomer and also specializes in astronomical titles.

Gurley Street Mural

You probably weren't aware that there was a mural at the back of those neat little shops on Gurley Street, just west of Granite Creek. I wasn't, until either Mike or Laura over at the Outfitters suggested I take a look at what I had totally missed on several occasions. In case you want to see the paint job, turn right on McCormick and pull into the parking lot behind the shops.

The theme of the mural appears to be the changing seasons, starting with winter on the right (below), and warming up as you move to the left. Somehow it's kinda backwards, to my way of thinking, but then I couldn't paint a picture if you paid me big bucks, so I should complain!

By me, the coolest elements are the great giant hot Arizona sun and the flock of ravens, Prescott's civic birds. On the other hand, I note that I missed much of what's going on at the lowest level -- I'd best get out there now that the leaves are gone and get a couple of pix.