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Meteor-Viewing Coyote Valley OSP, 8/12/15 by Ronald Horii
For the first time ever, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority held a perseid meteor showing viewing at their recently-opened Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. They have had meteor viewings before, but it's always been at their Rancho Canada del Oro OSP. While Coyote Valley OSP is not as dark as Canada del Oro, it's much easier to get to and has wider skies for viewing. It started at 8pm and ran until midnight. Several hundred people showed up, including the astronomers that hold star-viewing events at Canada del Oro. It took a lot of OSA staff and volunteers to handle the large crowd, direct them to park in the field, sign them in, setup lights, hand out glow sticks, and answer questions. Here are pictures of the event. Note that these pictures required progressively longer exposures, up to 60 seconds. While I saw 22 meteors, I didn't capture any with the camera. The streaks in the sky you see in the pictures are airplanes, though they look a lot like the meteors we saw. The red streaks on the ground are people moving with lights. Right after the event ended at midnight, as we were cleaning up, we noticed that there was a cloud layer moving in. By 1 am, the skies were clouded over, so we timed it just right. — at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. (near Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve)
For the first time ever, the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority held a perseid meteor showing viewing at their recently-opened Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. They have had meteor viewings before, but it's always been at their Rancho Canada del Oro OSP. While Coyote Valley OSP is not as dark as Canada del Oro, it's much easier to get to and has wider skies for viewing. It started at 8pm and ran until midnight. Several hundred people showed up, including the astronomers that hold star-viewing events at Canada del Oro. It took a lot of OSA staff and volunteers to handle the large crowd, direct them to park in the field, sign them in, setup lights, hand out glow sticks, and answer questions. Here are pictures of the event. Note that these pictures required progressively longer exposures, up to 60 seconds. While I saw 22 meteors, I didn't capture any with the camera. The streaks in the sky you see in the pictures are airplanes, though they look a lot like the meteors we saw. The red streaks on the ground are people moving with lights. Right after the event ended at midnight, as we were cleaning up, we noticed that there was a cloud layer moving in. By 1 am, the skies were clouded over, so we timed it just right. — at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve. (near Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve)
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Jim Buckley and 2 others like this.
Sharon Lum
Hey, I was there too but didn't see you there! I think I only saw about a dozen meteors. 
9 yrsReport
Ronald Horii
I got there a little after 8. It got dark fast after that, and everyone was using red lights, so I couldn't tell who was who. I saw 22 meteors, but I missed a lot. I would hear the crowd go "Ooh!" just when I was looking at my watch or at my camera or looking in the wrong direction. There were a few big ones that made a long arc across the sky that were easy to see.
9 yrsReport
