Move to Tucson Completed: New Astronomy Adventures Ahead!

[Drakkith]

Well, my move to Tucson is completed! 1100 miles, 20 hours, most of which was across Texas! (Shreveport, LA to Tucson, AZ)

Glad to be out here in Tucson finally. Already sent in my application to join the local astronomy organization, and I can't wait to go to some of the observatories around town! Kitt Peak is only about an hour away! Can't wait to go, as I've never been to a dark sky location before!

 

[Evo]

Congrats on the move!

 

[turbo]

Well, my move to Tucson is completed! 1100 miles, 20 hours, most of which was across Texas! (Shreveport, LA to Tucson, AZ)

Glad to be out here in Tucson finally. Already sent in my application to join the local astronomy organization, and I can't wait to go to some of the observatories around town! Kitt Peak is only about an hour away! Can't wait to go, as I've never been to a dark sky location before!

Good viewing and good luck! My skies are generally mag 6.5, and even 7x50 binoculars can show you a lot. Dark skies are a precious resource, IMO and increasingly we are losing them.

 

[jtbell]

most of which was across Texas!

Reminds me of the joke about the Texan bragging to a Vermonter:

TX: Why, Texas is so big, I can drive a whole day and night and another day, and I'm still in Texas!

VT: (sympathetically) I know what you mean... I used to have a car like that myself.

What area of Tucson are you in? My wife and I visited there several times (usually driving across Texas!) during my mother's last years. We usually stayed north of the city proper, along Oracle Road a few miles north of Tucson Mall.

 

[Drakkith]

What area of Tucson are you in? My wife and I visited there several times (usually driving across Texas!) during my mother's last years. We usually stayed north of the city proper, along Oracle Road a few miles north of Tucson Mall.

The eastern part, near Tanque Verde.

 

[jtbell]

If you're into used book stores, make sure to check out Bookmans. There's a store out that way, in the plaza at Speedway & Wilmot. Also at Speedway & Grant, and Ina & Thornydale (in the area where we used to stay). I bought a lot of used CDs at those stores on my visits to Tucson.

 

[Gale]

I visited Tuscon a lot while I lived in Phoenix. My first taste of Chipotle was there!

Tuscon is amazing for astronomy because the city itself actually restricts light pollution. However, it's still a city, so I've definitely seen darker skies. Go out into the desert to really see the sky!

We also had a "Dark Sky" location in Georgia, not too far from where I lived, and in fact they even had an astronomy village. However, the sky actually wasn't as dark as I had hoped. To the point that I actually thought my home growing up in New Hampshire had better viewing. But that shows you how precious "dark skies" really are I guess.

I still kick myself for not visiting Kitt Peak while I was there...

 

[jtbell]

Tuscon is amazing for astronomy because the city itself actually restricts light pollution. However, it's still a city, so I've definitely seen darker skies. Go out into the desert to really see the sky!

I think if you head out the road to the west towards Kitt Peak, past the low peaks that are just west of the city, out into the desert a bit, that might be dark enough. The peaks would shield most of the "sideways" light from the city.