We decided to do something warm for the holidays so headed for southern Arizona - something on Walt's bucket list and sounded good to me, so here we are. We're in Ajo, Arizona, pronounced ah-ho - like ah-ha, only a-ha! This is a small quaint town, just our cup of tea. This town mostly serves Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which a sort of cactus that looks a little like organ pipes - sort of!
But what has struck us the most is the color.
Our first morning and we have a spectacular sunrise. The Saguaro cactus is in the foreground and it's everywhere here.
Sunsets are just as colorful - this is Walt's version of a Happy Trails western type sunset with the cactus in the shadow.
But the nights here are really dark. For an amateur astronomer like me, this is a dream come true. This means that even though there is a bright full moon out, I can actually see other stars - even close to the moon.
Well known to astronomers is a fan favorite constellation, Orion is best viewed during the winter. In normal Northern Hemisphere climates, that's a tough deal at night in the cold. In the desert, it not only is easy but because the air is so clear and dry the viewing is extra great. The above photo makes my point because if you look closely you can see Orion rising with the full moon. This would be almost impossible to view elsewhere, but here, it's possible. Here's a shot of our location where they observe "dark skies" at night.
Here, at the top is Orion's belt, and at the bottom is Orion's sword. Also well known by astronomers is that in the sword, specifically the middle star of the sword is not actually a "star". It's actually a nebula. If you look at the star through binoculars, you can see the blur that is characteristic of a nebula.
Fortunately, I brought my telescope and am having a field day viewing things that I would have to specifically schedule and dress like Nanook of the north!
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