Star Attractions! Sedona is uniquely situated for astronomers to go skygazing; here’s your guide to a different kind of glitterati By Erika Ayn Finch
In Sedona and the surrounding areas today, the fascination with the heavens continues, and our night sky is uniquely suited to stargazing. Want to join the fun? On the following pages, we’ll introduce you to local astronomy clubs and two spots all stargazers should know: Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff and Meteor Crater just east of Flagstaff. And if all the talk about celestial bodies inspires you to plan your own star party, meet the man behind Evening Sky Tours, which will provide the telescopes and the astronomers if you provide the guests. Finally, learn about the International Dark Sky Association, Sedona’s lighting ordinance, and why it’s important to keep outdoor lighting to a minimum. Sedona may be hundreds of miles east of Hollywood but if we preserve our dark skies, we’ll continue to see more stars here than you’ll see in L.A. any night of the week. Astronomers of Verde Valley and Sirius lookers “It’s the weather,” he says. “There really isn’t a bad month for viewing stars in the Verde Valley. Even during monsoon [season], most of the storms occur during the day.” Dennis Young, president of Sirius Lookers, a Sedona-based astronomy club, agrees the weather is one reason Arizona has more telescopes than any other place in the country, but also cites the low-humidity, high-altitude locations and dark skies. “You can see galaxies with the naked eye” here, he says. Astronomers of the Verde Valley (www.astroverde.org) has about 50 members who meet monthly at the Verde Valley Medical Center and hold monthly star parties at various locations. Sirius Lookers (www.siriuslookers.org) meets monthly at the Sedona Public Library and hosts many events – the club counts 20 members but Dennis says some club events have drawn several hundred people. The Verde Valley club’s favorite stargazing spots include Mingus Mountain, Two Trees on Forest Road 525, Beaverhead Flats Rd., and private land off Hwy 169 near the town of Cherry. Sirius Lookers also meets out at Two Trees but has traveled as far as Mt. Graham in southern Arizona near the New Mexico border and California. Both clubs welcome experienced members as well as novices. Those serious about astronomy tend to be night owls – JD recommends starting after 10 p.m., but the best hours are between midnight and 4 a.m. “Heat radiating from the earth causes a shimmering effect when you look through the telescope and that’s usually gone” in the wee hours, he explains. With the Verde Valley’s mild weather and location, you don’t even need a telescope to see many of the night sky’s fascinating nebulas, double stars, galaxies, meteors, and the Milky Way, which stretches from horizon to horizon after midnight. The views of constellations and celestial objects change with the seasons – in summer, stargazers look more toward the center of the Milky Way at objects such as M13, a globular star cluster made up of an estimated 1 million stars that are 26,000 light years away. (The M refers to French comet hunter Charles Messier, who created a list of celestial objects that were not comets.) Also visible during summer months are M57, a ring nebula (a mass of gas and dust), which appears as a smoky circle, the Sagitarius star cloud, and the Andromeda galaxy. In March, Sirius Lookers hosts the Messier Marathon, when 110 Messier objects are visible in one night. Winter heralds Pleiades or Seven Sisters, a cluster of hot blue stars, as well as the Orion Nebula and the realm of galaxies – a cluster of several thousand galaxies. Views of the planets change from year to year depending on their orbit and the earth’s orbit, says JD. This month, the blue-green planet Uranus will be visible; in October, Venus and Saturn will appear only three degrees apart in the early morning sky. For newcomers to astronomy and star gazing, JD offers tips: What accounts for stargazers’ passion? Dennis has been at it for 30 years; he leads astronomy programs at local schools, colleges, resorts, and state parks. “I started in Detroit but the sky didn’t beckon like it does in Sedona,” he says. “It’s always changing. A galaxy you’ve seen before now has a supernova [exploding star]. You can look at a different object each night for the rest of your life and never see the same one.” Meteor Crater Surprised to hear Meteor Crater is privately owned? So were we. In 1902, Pennsylvania mining engineer Daniel Moreau Barringer heard about a strange depression in the earth in northern Arizona on federal land. At that time it was thought the crater was the result of a volcanic steam explosion. Barringer visited and acquired the crater through mining patents from the government in 1903. He theorized the depression was caused by a meteor impact and intended to mine meteorite – a composition of iron and nickel. “He spent the last 27 years of his life trying to find meteorite,” says Drew, a Flagstaff resident and a member of the Board of Advisors at Lowell Observatory. “It has since been determined [the crater] wasn’t caused by a single mass. Small pieces of meteor have been found over the years but not the big mass my grandfather was looking for.” Barringer died in 1929 and Drew says his meteor theory was rejected by the scientific community until the 1960s, when Dr. Eugene Shoemaker proved it by comparing the crater with others created by nuclear test explosions. It was around that same time NASA began conducting training at the crater. Apollo astronauts, in preparation for moon missions, participated in geological training, and tested the lunar rover, space suits, and cameras there. Drew says NASA still trains at the site – as recently as 2006 – to research future missions and test an unmanned rover for missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond. “International scientists and universities from around the world conduct research here,” Drew says. “We are very concerned we maintain scientific integrity. The crater is accessible to the public but we are focused on science research.” Public access began informally in the 1930s; after World War II, the Barringers partnered with another company to create Meteor Crater Enterprises. A museum was built in the 1950s but it has been renovated to include interactive educational exhibits focusing on the phenomenon of impacts. (Drew says Meteor Crater is the first proven impact site on the earth’s surface and the best preserved – a total of 170 craters have been identified.) Pieces of meteorite found at the impact site, including one 1,406-lb. fragment, are on display. The visitors’ center includes an observation area, theater, and gift shop. Visitors can take a guided half-mile tour of the crater’s rim but Drew says legal issues have prevented visitors from going into the crater for years. Meteor Crater, or Barringer Meteorite Crater, hosts more than 200,000 visitors each year, making it northern Arizona’s third most popular attraction behind Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest national parks. “So many people have heard about the crater – they’ve seen it in movies, textbooks, and on TV,” he says. “It’s conveniently located, only six miles from a major interstate. I also think people are aware that asteroids collide with the earth – Hollywood is certainly aware – and there’s a fascination with that.” “It’s a unique feature to have in one’s family,” he laughs. “Whenever someone has had a high school science project, many of us have used Meteor Crater.” Meteor Crater
Cliff Ochser, who launched the company in 2004 after helping Lowell Observatory raise $25 million to build a new research telescope in Happy Jack, says private groups often team up with astronomers all over Sedona, particularly along Dry Creek Rd. and in parking lots just outside town. Sky tours last about 90 minutes and include an overview of visible constellations. Evening Sky Tours also sets up star parties for guests at local hotels. Cliff, who has lived in Sedona for nine years, says there really isn’t a bad spot for stargazing here. “Sedona is naturally a dark sky site primarily due to its size,” he says. “We only have 10,000 people living here and we are relatively remote. We also have more clear nights than locations like Flagstaff that get hit more frequently with summer and winter storms.” Evening Sky Tours hosted its first community stargazing event at Sedona Red Rock H.S. in June, followed by a meteor shower camp-out in August. At press time, Cliff said he was working on a Mars party for October and hoped to establish a star party in Sedona that will draw amateur astronomers from all over the world to town with their telescopes. He says those attending sky tours always want to see shooting stars while Jupiter and Saturn never fail to capture the imagination. This past summer, guests at a private star party were able to watch the space shuttle through a telescope, a rare treat. “It’s important to talk to people about what they are seeing when they look through a telescope,” says Cliff. “Essentially, you are looking back in time. When we look at a star 11 million light years away, we are looking 11 million years back in time.” For information on Evening Sky Tours, call 928-203-0006 or visit www.eveningskytours.com. Lowell Observatory “We have about 70,000 visitors every year,” says spokesman Steele Wotkyns. “We have 20 full-time astronomers and we’re the oldest education institute in Flagstaff.” “By traditional definition, it’s a planet,” he says. “But it was also thought at first that asteroids were planets until [the realization] they were a different type of celestial body. Pluto could be a prototype. But [either way], it gets people talking about astronomy and that's what’s important.” Just don’t ask Kevin if Pluto was named after the lovable Disney dog that made his debut the same year. Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old girl from England, won a naming contest – she was learning about Roman mythology in school at the time (she’s alive and still sends Christmas cards to the observatory). Kevin says Walt Disney was fascinated by space and adds – planet or dwarf planet – Pluto was the cartoon dog’s namesake. Yet Kevin and Steele say the observatory may have made even greater discoveries than Pluto. Between 1912 and 1914, V.M. Slipher made discoveries leading to the realization that our universe is expanding – the instrument he used and more about the expansion are on display at the observatory. The rings of Uranus, the three largest known stars, oxygen on one of Jupiter’s moons and gyrochronology – a means of determining the age of a star – were all discovered at Lowell. Today researchers focus on asteroids and near-Earth objects, planets orbiting other stars, and the brightness stability of the sun. Earlier this year, the observatory unveiled its John Vickers McAllister Space Theatre, a 24-seat venue with a five-foot concave screen for comfortable viewing. Lowell also operates four research telescopes at Anderson Mesa, east of Flagstaff, and scopes in Australia and Chile. Lowell is building the 4.2-meter (168 inches) Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, in partnership with Discovery Communications. The telescope is expected to be the fifth largest in the continental United States. Research conducted at the site will be the focus of TV programs about astronomy, science, and technology airing on Discovery networks. Lowell Observatory Dark Skies “Bulbs must be shaded,” he says. “You should not see the light bulb but rather the light the bulb casts on the ground or in the doorway. Motion sensor lighting is also a good alternative; turn off porch lights when they aren’t needed.” Other things to keep in mind: Mercury vapor lights have been outlawed in Sedona since 2006. Low-pressure sodium lights are preferred by astronomers and they are more energy efficient. Floodlights pointing above the horizon are prohibited, as are any lights shining onto a neighbor’s property. Dark sky advocates suggest homeowners use timers so lights automatically shut off. They also recommend install-ing lights at night in order to see exactly where they shine. Doug notes that even with light ordinances here, “If you look south you can see the Phoenix sky glow from here.” Dark skies aren’t just important for stargazers. The International Dark Sky Association’s website, www.darksky. org, as well as the City of Sedona’s Outdoor Lighting Requirements (see www.sedonaaz.gov, Article 9 in the Land Development Code), say “light pollution” wastes energy. Excess light can harm nocturnal wildlife (i.e. bats), detract from a small town atmosphere, and reduce safety levels by creating glare for nighttime drivers. The City of Sedona is considering a proposal by the Arizona Dept. of Transportation to add 76 streetlights to Hwy 89A due to pedestrian safety concerns. Barbara Litrell, president of Keep Sedona Beautiful, is skeptical. “Keep Sedona Beautiful has been working with the city, county and International Dark Skies organization to protect Sedona’s dark skies for many years,” she says. “We firmly believe that safety and dark skies can co-exist.... However, in the case of ADOT’s proposal for 76 street lights along Hwy 89A from Dry Creek Rd. to Airport Rd., we believe there are better alternatives than street lights to address both the daytime and nighttime safety issues.” • Sedona Monthly Features Archive Home
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
SEEDONA | |
 |
||
|
 |
This Month's Cover Story |
|
||
|
Sedona Gone Hollywood | |
|
||
|
Sedona Activities | |
|
||
|
Sedona Snapshots | |
|
||
|
Dear Diary | |
|
||
|
SEDONA GUIDE | |
|
||
|
Lodging | |
|
||
|
|
Restaurants |
|
||
|
Art Galleries | |
|
||
|
Spas | |
|
||
|
Entertainment | |
|
||
|
HAPPENINGS | |
|
||
|
Calendar of Events | |
|
||
|
DIRECTORY | |
|
||
|
Maps and Directions | |
|
||
For as long as humans have inhabited our corner of Arizona, their necks have been craned to the sky, gazing at the stars. Look at the pictographs of animals and hunters at the Palatki Heritage Site southwest of Sedona, and you’ll see an image that many believe to be a star; images of sun- and moon-like objects can be found at rock art sites all around the Verde Valley. To the north, the Hopi, believed to be descendents of the Sinagua people that populated the Verde Valley, tell a story about a boy who creates the Milky Way in order to climb up to the sun. 
Evening Sky Tours
© 2006-2007 Bar225 Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
|