On the Road: Post-ALCON Rancho Hidalgo, Day 1

Following the superb ALCon meeting this weekend in Tucson, Arizona, I traveled southeast about 2.5 hours to the vicinity of Animas, New Mexico, to spend a couple days at Gene Turner’s Rancho Hidalgo astronomy community. Gene and his wife, Loy Guzman, are terrific hosts, and the facility contains Astronomy magazine’s observatory, the Astronomical League’s dark-sky telescope, Clyde Tombaugh’s 16-inch scope in Pluto Park, and robotic observatories used by Vanderbilt University and several other research groups. Joining us for a couple nights of fun, observing, and talks are three executives from Celestron — Corey Lee, vice president of engineering; Rick Garrison, principal engineer, design; and Eric J. Kopit, director of product development.

On Sunday, June 27, we had a magnificent ride down and spent the day talking, observing, and surveying the properties. Gene provided a tour of his newest development site, Granite Gap, where amateur astronomers will soon be able to buy land under a tremendously dark sky at very inexpensive prices, setting up an astronomy vacation paradise — a 24/7 continuous star party that will offer a dream sky to many observers now plagued by a less than perfect view of the heavens.

During our stay, we will survey many more sights around the region and will be joined by a Hollywood movie making team that is producing and shooting a significant film here, partly on Gene’s land. Stay tuned for more.

To see my pictures from this trip to Rancho Hidalgo, visit our Online Reader Gallery.

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On the Road: ALCON Expo, Day 2

On the Road: ALCON Expo, Day 1

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