Our Lost Astro Sites in 2025
Peter Natscher
Akarsh Simha
The past few months this year has been devastating for our astro sites. We have lost Pinnacles West, Pacheco-Dinosaur Point, and last week DARC at Mercy Hot Springs (if that matters to TAC). Owner Dr. Bob Caton of Modesto is putting the entire DARC observatory + a very large Newtonian telescope that's in one of its large domes for sale. I got wind of this last week in my phone call to a person who has been managing DARC for Dr. Caton the past few years.
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Peter Natscher
DARC has some complications. Access up to the observatory gate off of the J1 road requires getting through the combo locked gate and on to the FAA tower road. The DARC gate is situated on this dirt FAA road. J1 road is the Little Panoche Road running N-S and also where Mercy Hot Springs is located. To get through the FAA gate and drive on the FAA dirt road up the hill to the observatory, the FAA would require some personal approval to receive the combination to the gate lock that is changed every month. The DARC manager Ed Gold, of Modesto, has had trouble getting the new combo each month with the FAA bureau. Sometimes, he's driven an hour from Modesto and unable to get through the gate because the FAA office did or didn't change the lock combo or gave him the wrong combo number. The observatory main house is infested with mice from not being taken care of the past few years. Apparently, the rattlers outside are not eating enough of them. There are a few newly constructed and electrified small domes on the site that are unused and in good shape. There is no cell connection at this site. There was an operating satelllite WiFi system operating from the main house the past 10-15 years.
Contact DARC manager Ed Gold in Modesto: 209 345 2984; email: edgold...@yahoo.com for more information about the property and structures.
