Mike's Astro Photos

Catalina Mountains Tucson - February 5th, 2010

Here are a few astro photos I took from La Paloma, our Hotel in Tucson. I had originally wanted to drive out into the desert and shoot from there, but the timing wasn’t right so I decided to give it a try from the resort. I spent a few hours one night walking around to different spots trying to get a good vantage point on the stars. It wasn’t till the end of the night that I had discovered the golf course, which turned out to be the perfect place for observing and photographing. There were no street lamps and the course was very dark. The hotel is in the foothills of the Catalina mountains, the suburbs of Tucson, so the skies weren’t super black, but they were better than Baltimore County and the scenery was pretty awesome.

I really wanted to catch some meteor photos over the mountains and I thought about setting up the camera and leaving it running for the whole night, but the thought of sleeping on the golf course didn’t do much for me and I didn’t want to leave the camera unattended in such a public place. I shot 3-5 pictures from a dozen or so different spots. No meteors but the cacti, mountains and sky line all contributed to some cool photos.

Tucson Skyline - February 5th, 2010

Big Dipper & Cactus in Tucson - February 5th, 2010

Big Dipper Catalina Mountains - February 5th, 2010

Catalina Mountains Tucson

Orion From Tucson - February 5th, 2010

Orion Tucson - February 5th, 2010

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show - February 2010

I really wanted to do something special for my wife this Valentines day and I thought, what would be better than a trip to Tucson for the annual Gem & Mineral Show? Exhibitors from around the world converge on Tucson each year show casing the best collections of precious and semi-precious stones, minerals, fossils and other collectibles. This trade show spans dozens of hotels throughout the city and is the home of the world’s largest meteorite expo! I knew she would love it. We arrived Thursday February 4th and were planning a long weekend. Due to the cataclysmic snow storms on the east coast we ended up getting stranded in Tucson for two extra days. We were set to fly back to Dulles on Tuesday and our flight was canceled again as a result of snow storm #2. So we booked a flight to Charlotte NC, rented a 4×4 and planned to drive 8 hours home, through the snow storm. Our luck changed at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport when a plane to Philly was delayed. We were able to jump on that flight and make it home before the snow hit. Now I’m home and looking out the window at 4+ feet of snow on the ground. Its a stark contrast to the sunny 70 degree weather in the west.

Despite the travel chaos the trip to Tucson was a lot of fun. Its a beautiful city and the people are very nice and laid back. I was able to pick up a bunch of nice new meteorites on the cheap and I met up with some of the top meteorite people in the world. I even got a chance to go meteorite hunting in the Wet Stone strewn field. We didn’t find anything but it was a great experience to hunt with pros in the Arizona desert. Here are a few pics of some of the fossils they had at the show. I could have picked up a nice, real, full Triceratops skull for only $250,000, but I didn’t bring that much cash with me.

Tucson Fossil & Meteorite Show - February 2010

T-Rex Skull

Giant Sloth Fossil

Tucson Fossil Show - February 2010

Tucson Fossil Show - February 2010

Tucson Fossil Show - February 2010

Megalodon Jaws