Went to the Kitt Peak Observatory and nearly tripped over a tripod

I drove out to Kitt Peak last Saturday hoping to catch some nebula shots and ended up spending half the night dodging someone's giant Celestron that they left right in the middle of the walkway. Who sets up a 14 inch scope in the dark right where everyone's walking? Has anyone else dealt with bad tripod placement at popular viewing spots?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_nelson2d ago

Man that's rough, really feel for you on this one. I've had almost the same thing happen at Cherry Springs, some guy had his big dob set up literally in the middle of the gravel path where everyone's walking back to their cars. It's like people just forget that other humans exist once they get their gear out. The worst is when they leave their chair and cooler right there too, so you're basically doing an obstacle course in the dark. Hope you still got some decent shots despite the hassle.

the_jessica2d ago

My go-to move is tripping over my own chair in the dark, haven't needed anyone else's gear to eat it yet. Last time out I managed to kick over my tripod and spent ten minutes feeling around for the thumb screw in the grass. It's a special kind of klutz when you can't even blame the other guy.