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There are two basic ways to get to Keller: 6670 Co Rd 15 SW, Byron, MN 55920 (yes it's closer to Rochester, but it has a Byron address).
Driving directions from US 63 and MN 30 (on south side of Rochester Airport). Go west on MN 30 for 4.6 mi. Then north on Co Rd 15 for 2.3 mi, when you get to the top of a hill (2mi), you'll know your almost there, over the bridge, past the house (left side) then on the right look for the clump of trees and drive way and you're there.
This way is a few minutes longer drive but is much easier to get to you there the first couple of times.
Once you've been there, you can us the more direct route, but it has a couple of turns that you need to watch for:
From Apache Mall, take Salem Glen Road (3.5 miles past the split with West Circle Drive), then south on Co Rd 15 for 4.1 miles. If you go over the bridge and up a hill, you've gone too far.Both ways are asphalt 🙂 but Keller is packed gravel.
Any one want to head out to Keller tonight for a short time? Do you want to believe the forecast that it might be somewhat clear by then? 🙂
Jeff
I used to have a hobby. It was called 'Astronomy'. 😉
I think I'll head out to the Flatin Farm hayfield tonight to see if it is still there.
The night of June 13/14th was the astronomy outreach for the Norwegian Ridge Language Camp. This was the 2d year we have done this, and again, it was at the Flatin Farm (Cornfield this year). Scott Bingham, Steve Remick (Stuppo), Barb Hanning and myself were set up at 7 p.m. and we showed 24 kids and 6 adults the Sun, the Moon, Venus and Saturn. We were just about ready to go to the deep sky stuff, but since this group was the little kids, they took off after viewing Saturn. The older kids and adults come next week. We got rave reviews from the crowd, and I am still hearing comments how much they liked it. 8)
Stuppo had to work the next day and left soon after, but Ellenvega and I stayed and went after some of the "really obscure stuff". We went after carbon stars and Barnard's star again. The carbon stars we went after were Y Canes Venaticorum, "La Superba" (a VERY beautiful star, but not at its deepest minima, T Lyra, and R Cygni. Then on to Barnard's Star and this time, we were 99.9% certain we could identify it. 🙂
We also found and looked at NGC 6826 "The Blinking Nebula" in Cygnus. I actually found this before Barb did. "HOORAY!" She found everything else quicker. "I like to find stuff" was her comment. She does that and very well. We also saw an ISS pass at 10:50 and saw quite a few meteors. They were fast movers, very bright, and appeared to emanate from the area near Deneb. AGNFA! ;D
Actually, I did speak a little Norsk to the kids. After the session ended, I got a lot of "Tusen Takk's" from them.
P.S. When we were going after Barnard's Star, Ellenvega said, "If Randy were here we could tell if we've got the right one by having him push a button. But that would be cheating." ;D
Remember that the Moon occults Kappa Librae at around midnite on the night of June 20/21. It happens in Chicago at 11:56 p.m.
This is rated by Sky&Telescope (June issue, p. 53) as the best Lunar occultation of the year.
Who says you can't see something in the land with a Bright Future (i.e. Stewartville)?
Saturday night, after seeing the skies clear and checking the forum, we were surprised that no one mentioned going to Keller. So what is a person to do?
Walk around the house until you find the best (but not perfect) place to do a little back yard observation. So after adjusting the club's 8in. Skyquest Dob, we were able to get a good view of our usual favorites: Saturn, Double star Uras Major, M13 (one of Julie's favorite), and some hunting for that elusive Whirlpool galaxy (I don't know why we don't seem to ever find it). I don't remember what else we saw — it was getting late.
After a good nap on Sunday, I scoured the web and found some additional instructions on the 8XT and a little more adjusting the Dob has a nearly effortless, smooth motion. I can't wait for another good night to put it to use. ;D
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