OI: Saturday March 28 Henry Coe

[Muriel Dulieu Holzer]

Hi,

I would like to go take pictures with my SeeStar tomorrow Saturday night 03/28 at Henry Coe. What is the process to gain access? 

I know the moon is 71% illuminated but I read that the SeeStar performs well under sub optimal conditions. Does anyone have experience to share about this? Will I be able to take pictures of galaxies and nebulae?

Anyone else interested in joining?

-Muriel

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

Muriel, for Coe access, https://observers.org/henry-coe/ has all the details.

Worth noting that our observing sites list on observers.org is kept current and accurate. DDK sez check it out.

[Mark Wagner]

Try phoning the park headquarters to ask for the overflow lot gate be left unlocked.  If there is no answer it is best to go and see if someone is in the headquarters I'd suggest by 5pm latest.  If nobody is in the headquarters you may have to wait for someone to arrive to close the office.  I have fond email has not been working the last several times I used it.

[David Kirjassoff]

I see you’ve already got answers on the access question.  The Seestar works well even with the moon out, but it depends a lot on the target, its proximity to the moon, and if there are clouds and haze getting illuminated by the moonlight.

Nebulae are better targets than galaxies, the nebula filter in the Seestar does a good job filtering out the skyglow.  Not so much for galaxies as they have light signature similar to the moon and skyglow.  The Seestar does really well on the moon, just take a 10 second or so raw video in Solar System mode, and then access the video file on the Seestar via the app, and use the “stack” button.

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[Solomon Lucas]

Hi Muriel,

I called the park just now and they said we should be able to open the gate and access the parking lot. I was planning to take some Milky Way pictures, so will not be there until about 3 am. But you should be able to access the parking lot before that.

Solomon

On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 2:09 PM Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Try phoning the park headquarters to ask for the overflow lot gate be left unlocked.  If there is no answer it is best to go and see if someone is in the headquarters I'd suggest by 5pm latest.  If nobody is in the headquarters you may have to wait for someone to arrive to close the office.  I have fond email has not been working the last several times I used it.

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[Muriel Dulieu Holzer]

Thank you Jamie and Mark for the information and advice. I keep forgetting to look at the website.
I will call in the morning and try to get there before 5 pm.
David, I was hoping to take pictures of galaxies, I'll try and see.
Solomon, I don't think I will still be there at 3 am. Looks like the moon will be low then, it sounds like a good time to go.

-Muriel