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The Family Tree
Thought for the Month: The SunTree Traveler
Our April Fool's Weekend at Faywood Hot Springs turned out to be a better April Fool's joke on the SunTree members than that lame event report that I put in last month's newsletter. We only heard from one member who had his plans disrupted by our sudden cancellation of that event. We to apologize to him, to the folks at Faywood Hot Springs and to anyone else who's life was disrupted. We do not like to do that, but sometimes there is no choice. We will attempt to keep our cancellations to a bare minimum.
Mom Nature made a couple of attempts to discourage the SunTree tribe from making their visit to Jardin del Sol in April. After a spring of relatively few sandstorms, she brewed up a fantastic one for the week prior to our visit. On the day before we were planning to show up, many of the highways in New Mexico were closed (e.g. I-40, I-10 and US-180). The Alamogordo contingent had to spend the night in Deming rather than driving all of the way to Marana. They even started early on Thursday in order to beat the next storm and barely got through before I-10 was closed again, not to open until 8 that evening. My travel on Friday was, fortunately uneventful. It was only slightly breezy. The weather did not, however, prevent any of the SunTree gang from getting through to the Garden of the Sun for a really great weekend. The folks at Jardin del Sol sure knew how to welcome the visit of the SunTree gang. They invited us to join them at their club's international potluck meal on Saturday night. The food was fantastic (a subject near and dear to the hearts of SunTree members), but the visiting and conversation with the JdS members made the evening truly enjoyable. Later that night, there was a bonfire (another of SunTree's pyrofavorite things). Friendly people, a beautiful location and helpful club management all totaled up to make the weekend a full success. Now it is time to look at our calendar and decide when we can squeeze in another Jardin del Sol event. Thanks to Larry and Suzann (hope that I spelled that right) along with all of the JdS folks who took part in that weekend. We send our greetings to Jan and best wishes to Vern (who was unable to be there when we were).
Event #1 in Organ, NM Be prepared for a rigorous game of croquet (or possibly Polish horse shoes) with lots of aid from assorted dachshunds. Be sure to give Cal and Sandy a call to let them know that you will be there and what kind of dish you plan to bring with you. Event #2 in the Gila National Forest The place chosen for this adventure is so remote that cellular phones will not work there (shutter). In addition to that, there are no RV hookups, running water (or any other kind of water unless it rains), nor (brace yourself) electricity. It is a true adventure where the participants will be expected to survive the weekend on nothing but food and bottled beverages. If you can imagine it, there will be no hot tub available, nor showers. If you think that you can hack this sort of adventure unscathed, then make sure that you contact SunTree (call the SunTree answering machine at 505.522.6284) and leave your name and number so that you can be on the "call list" for updates to the planning for this trip. You can be a member of the SunTree True Hackers Club if you can handle this. Currently, we plan on using the same camping are that we have used in the past. Since there has been an abnormally high rainfall in the area this year, the fire danger should be low. This will allow SunTree to use the same area again. If there is some sort of unanticipated problem (such as the escape of a troop of vicious orangutans) in the area and we have to move to another location, you will want to be on the call list to be informed of that.
Venus attains its greatest brilliance on the second at magnitude -4.5. Be aware that the magnitude scale is like a golf score, the lower the number, the brighter the object. That means that Venus is really bright. Venus will start the month very high in the sky at sunset. By the end of the month, it will get appreciably dimmer and will follow the sun as it sets. Venus, at that time will be preparing for its spectacular transition of the sun in early June. If you have a telescope and watch Venus, you will see it as a dramatic, ever-larger crescent, lit from behind by the Sun. Mars and Saturn, both in the constellation Gemini (remember when I talked a couple of months ago about the twin brothers Castor and Pollex, they are now in the western sky) and are linked in a friendly duo as they continue sinking lower each evening. Toward the end of the month, they appear to be a single "star". There will be a spectacular scene when Mars and Saturn join up on the twenty-first with the crescent Moon between them and Venus, which is just below the moon. For identification purposes, above the crescent moon and to the left is the dim, orange Mars. To the left of Mars is the considerably brighter Saturn. A total lunar eclipse on the fourth will not be visible from most of the United States and Canada. But the big news comes in the second half of the month when SunTree is enjoying the darkness of the night sky as seen from the club encampment in the Gila National Forest. Not just one, but two comets for your listening and dancing pleasure. WOW ! As is usual with comets, we have no idea how bright these comets will be, nor how long their tails will be. We can look at their performance thus far and make some guesses, but they sometimes will surprise us (remember how the expected brilliance of Halley's Comet turned out to be less than expected?). If you happen to be visiting in the southern hemisphere during May and June, you will have a better look at these. That lunar eclipse on the fourth will be a great chance for you to see the comets if you happen to be in New Zealand or Africa, but not so good for those of us who will not have that eclipse to darken the sky just as one of the comets is at its peak. The two comets have been named C/2001 Q4 and C2002/T7 by the comet experts who do not seem to speak the same language as civilized folks. For their very close friends, these comets are known as NEAT and LINEAR respectably. So far, NEAT has been performing great and is expected to continue. LINEAR, on the other hand started out great, but around early March, its brightening seemed to stall. If LINEAR does not get its act together soon, it will not be very neat (sorry). When LINEAR started on its brightening phase this past January, it had two tails. Now that could be really neat, but maybe that might indicate some on-board problems. We will have to see when the two of them will visit the SunTree Campsite later this month. For folks living in the northern hemisphere (as many of the SunTree gang do), NEAT will be the easiest one to see. LINEAR will probably not be seen at all by people north of latitude 35 degrees, north (this is not good news for folks who live north of Albuquerque or Flagstaff). To see NEAT in early May, look just above the southwest horizon at sunset. NEAT should be at its brightest at that time and (it is to be hoped) bright enough to overcome the glare of the setting sun. As the month progresses, it will rise into the night sky. By the middle of the month, it should be high in the western sky. It will travel across the sky toward the northwest as it starts to dim. You should be able to see it through June, but by July, you will need optical help (see your ophthalmologist). LINEAR will try to hide from you through its flight. You will need an unobstructed horizon to the east during the early part. If you have mountains to the east of you, hike over them to get a good view of the eastern horizon. Better yet, climb to the peak and sit down to watch the events (did you get that Bev?). At the beginning of May, it will be resting on the horizon and will be very hard to see without optical enhancement. LINEAR will reach full brightness around the middle of the month, but it probably will be washed out by the rising sun's glare. Be patient, though, it will move to the other side of the sun during May and by late month, and early in June, it will be higher in the west-southwestern skies at sunset. © 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2008 |
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An April Fool Joke On Us (Sorry)