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RE: Santa Cruz County Dark Night Skies for
Telescope Use Photo: Webmaster Jim Duncan with telescopes in driveway Besides the ocean views, surfing, Redwood trees, a great university, cultural variety, arts, and outdoor sports, Santa Cruz County offers a good to great dark night sky experience in many areas, even though it is not far from the jobs and excitement of the Silicon Valley. If you'd really like to have it all, consider shopping for a home in Santa Cruz County - and bring your telescopes.
Telescope techie details: At my Santa Cruz County valley location, the zenith naked eye limiting magnitude on good summer nights varies between 4 and 5 (unless there are clouds or high altitude moisture on which city area lights can reflect). The Milky Way is visible with detail on dry, cloud-free dry nights. On winter nights when there is more high level moisture, the limiting magnitude can drop to 3. For me views to the north, west, and south below about 40 degrees are hampered by hills (high horizon) and distant light pollution domes. Views to the zenith and down 30 degrees can often be very good - further down towards the SE where there is less distant light pollution. In summer M31 is easily visible to the naked eye, but M33 is not quite. I'm at 770 feet elevation, so if there's low fog in San Jose and/or Santa Cruz City, I get a wider very dark sky. I most often go for the zenith, which makes my reflector scope more convenient than the refractor for most viewing. Other Santa Cruz County areas can be better or worse than mine. Ocean view areas along the coast of course enjoy no light pollution from out to sea. Periods of excess moisture in those areas are often balanced by offshore conditions providing awesome terrestrial views of Monterey County hills and good skies for telescope use. A property next to the Capitola Mall will have convenient shopping but a compromised dark night. When you choose a Santa Cruz County residence, you can take the potential "seeing" issues of any exact location into consideration as suits your needs. There are many US regions with better dark night skies in the Midwest and rural New Mexico for example, but as an overall package, Santa Cruz County, California is hard to beat. Call or email Patti and ask about properties here that would be suitable. Jim Duncan - PattiBoe.com webmaster and member of the International Dark-Sky Association
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he has to make a several hour round trip to the desert or Frazier Park in his RV. I
live in Santa Cruz County not far from the supermarket, gas station, and jobs,
but it only takes me about 15 minutes to set up a
scope in my own driveway and go for it. Unlike in the nearby San Francisco Bay
Area and the LA Basin, there are good dark night skies in many Santa Cruz
County areas.
