Morning came bright and clear.  I got a picture of the mountain just behind our travel inn right at the morning golden hour.

The trip from Fort Davis to Terlingua was filled with awesome views of desert and mountain vistas.  We stopped at the Calamity Creek rest area just before arrival in Alpine.  There was a nice view of Elephant Mountain behind the rest area.

We were able to get some pictures of the three of us at the rest area.  I took a picture of John Rush taking a picture of Jeff Higgins.  On several occaisions throughout the trip, we found time to get some pictures of one of us taking pictures of another member of our group.  Other travelers saw what we were up to and found our antics amusing.  We also found some mistletoe growing on several trees in the rest area.

We were able to get some pictures of the three of us standing in front of a rickety iron fence with Elephant Mountain in the background.

We bought groceries for the week at Lowe’s Grocery in Alpine, Texas.  We also ate lunch at Spicewood Bar and Grill.  The food and the company were excellent.  There was also a friendly server, Christian.  We bought gas and then were on our way to the Corazones Draw Ranch near Terlingua, Texas.  We arrived just in time to excitedly set up our telescopes hoping for the clear weather to continue.  I took some time to take pictures of us and our surroundings as the sun set.

The wide open space surrounding the Corrazones Draw Ranch gave us a clear horizon and we were able to get a stunning view of the Belt of Venus — the pink band of light just above the blue band that results from Earth's shadow.

Night falls beginning our second night of clear skies, the first for taking pictures.  Bortle 1 skies are amazing.  Period.

On our first night, Jeff shot movies of Jupiter with his Celestron 9.25", but the seeing wasn't good enough to get any decent results.  He was able to get pictures of NGC 2169, an interesting cluster of stars that writes the number 37.

Interestingly, just after sunset, we discovered that the strange light pollution we saw at McDonald Observatory had followed us to Terlingua.  Wait one minute, that wasn’t light pollution, the sky glow at McDonald Observatory was Zodiacal Light!  John used his Canon camera to take a better pictue of the Zodiacal light.  John used his Redcat 51II and a full light filter to capture LDN 1622, The Boogyman Nebula in Orion and then, just after 3:30 am, some time on NGC 5139, ω Centauri, a large globular cluster.  We all spent some time looking at ω Centauri naked eye and through binoculars.

I used my Askar FRA300 with a UV/IR cut filter early and then switched to an Optolong L‑Ultimate filter a few hours later to capture Sh 2-240, The Spaghetti Nebula.  I should have used the L‑Ultimate first, because when ω Centauri rose, I had to use the narrowband filter for the globular.

Day two at the ranch and morning begins with trying to get darks for the ASI6200 camera.  Maybe I should have brought my old flats on a memory stick, but it is January and I usually try to get new dark libraries every six months in January and July.  Most of the morning is spent waiting for darks while sitting on pins and needles to see how good the Spaghetti Nebula really is.  Once they finish, I do the short Sh 2-240 set for UV/IR and it takes forever on the laptop.  I need to process the even shorter ω Centauri data to see if it is worth trying for more data.  Even with the wide field of view scope, narrow band filter data, and only thirty minutes of data, the picture looks impressive.  I want to take galaxies for the next two nights, but then hope to have time to get more ω Centauri data with the Askar refractor to finish up the final picture.  The globular rises earlier but only gets high enough to take pictures at about 4:00 am.  It crosses the meridian just about the time astronomical dark begins, so there is no time to do the meridian flip and get three or four more pictures.

Jeff used his ASI2600MC pro camera to shoot IC 417 (The Spider Nebula), NGC 2467 (The Skull and Crossbones Nebula), NGC 7789 (an open cluster, Caroline's Rose), NGC 5139 (ω Centauri), and NGC 5128 (the galaxy Centaurus A).

John used his Redcat 51II and a UV/IR cut filter to capture the first of two nights of data for IC 410 and IC 405 (The Tadpoles and The Flaming Star Nebula).  He also used his Canon camera to take pictures of the Milky Way.

I imaged two galaxies using an Orion Apex 127mm Mak-Cas with a ZWO ASI071MC pro camera with no filters in the train, enough time to finish NGC 1055 and some time on NGC 5128, Centaurus A, early in the morning.

A busy day of taking new darks for the ASI071 camera and waiting holds up getting the new pictures processed.  I do finish the narrow band processing of Sh 2-240 and get the two sets put together.  John Rush shows Jeff and I how to set up better file structures to facilitate preprocessing in PixInsight.  By the time the darks are ready, lunch is over and I only had time to get the very short Centaurus A data processed to see if it is worth the time to take more data tonight.  The picture looks great, even though the data is very undersampled.  The Mak works better than most astrophotographers will credit.

We take a road trip through Big Bend National Park this afternoon.  Lunch is at a local grill in Terlingua.  The park is full of mountains and desert landscape.  The highlight of the trip is Santa Elena Canyon, a spot where the Rio Grande cuts throuh the mountain, dividing the Mexican side on the left from the US side on the right.

We arrive back at the ranch just in time to set up for the night.  It is very clear but also quite windy.  Jeff attempts IC 410, The Tadpoles Nebula, but the effort fails due to his large telescope acting like a sail.  In the early morning, he has better results with ω Centauri. 

John uses an L-Ultimate filter with his Redcat 51II and images the first of two nights of Sh 2‑240, The Spaghetti Nebula, then swaps filters in the early morning to catch NGC 5128, Centaurus A, with a full light filter.

I continue with the Orion Apex 127mm Mak-Cass because there is another galaxy I’d like to shoot while we are so far south, NGC 1300 in Eridanus.  I also plan to shoot more time on Centaurus A.  It would be great to get up to four or five hours of data, but it rises at 3:30 am and only reaches meridian before astronomic dawn.  I do get enough time to result in a good picture of Centaurus A.

I work fast to get caught up with as much processing as I can because I’m still a day behind.  The picture of ω Centauri in narrowband data is so good that it convinces me to switch back to the Askar FRA300 so I can get more data on ω Centauri as possible in full light.  I do finish NGC 1055 and it is also a good effort, I’m really happy with the result.  Half of M77 is visible in the corner and that convinces me that I have to get more data on M77 with the C-14 at home.

It is our fourth clear night of excellent astrophotography weather here at the ranch.  Jeff attempts the Pleiades, but the effort is lost due to high cirrus clouds in that part of the sky.  He moves on to Thor's Helmut with better results.

John uses his Redcat and finishes Sh 2-240, then shoots LDN 1622, The Boogyman Nebula, and M78, Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula, both with a UV/IR cut filter.  He changes to a full light filter to catch ω Centauri in the early morning.

I do switch back to the Askar FRA300 so I can get some data on LDN 1622, The Boogyman, in Orion for Nico Carver’s January contest even though I got a decent picture in October.  My hope is that I can get better data at higher elevation, angle, and in darker skies so I don’t have to use narrow band data.  I’ll also switch to ω Centauri at about 3:30 since it has to be up over 4-5° before I can get pictures that are not too warped by atmospheric refraction.  I've never been able to shoot so low to the horizon before because of all the light domes at home in CNY.

Day five at the Ranch.  Weather reports say tonight will be cloudy.  We can’t complain after four clear nights in a row in January.  It also gives us a bit of a respite from getting up at midnight to focus and at 3:00 am to switch to southern targets.  All of us process as fast as our slow laptops allow.  John switches to passing his data to his computer at home and logging in remotely.  Jeff and I will have to learn to do this.  Apparently, the ASIair has the ability to pass data directly to your home computer.

I do get caught up enough that I can run the last data set of the Boogyman overnight so I don’t waste so much daylight time working on processing.

I cooked dinner tonight, Hamburg gravy with mashed potatoes, a big hit with all of us after so many pre- prepared meals.  The weather reports are correct, and we all get some good sleep tonight.

Day six at the Ranch.  It’s clear all day but the reports for tonight are spotty at best.  Jeff and John decide to set up and hope for the best.  My weather eye says not to bother, and I opt for more sleep again tonight.  I am caught up with everything except my log, so I'll get caught up today.

Day seven at the Ranch.  It’s clear all day again, but the reports for tonight are back and forth.  It’s probably going to be worth trying, but it will be best not to entertain high hopes.  Even if it is a bust, we’ve had five clear nights out of eight possible (only seven when we could take pictures) and that’s a great number of good days during the new moon.  I am caught up with the log today.  I still need to finish up a few landscape pictures and pictures we’ve taken of each other.  That will almost certainly have to wait till I get home tomorrow.  We have to leave the ranch by 7:30 am, so we’ll have to take everything down to pack by 4:00 am.

Jeff took pictures of M78, Casper the Friendly Ghost Nebula in Orion, to have an entry for Nico's January challenge.

John photographed IC 410 and IC 405 (The Tadpoles and The Flaming Star Nebula) again, this time with an Optolong L-Ultimate filter.

I attempted pictures of IC 447, the Cone Nebula in Monoceros, but images failed due to poor focus.  I need to get an Electronic Automatic Focuser, which performs much better in hazy skies than the human eye.

Last day at the ranch.  It's a long drive to El Paso airport.  Jeff had to check his scope into baggage because it wouldn’t fit through the TSA scanners.  All his luggage made it to Syracuse and he hasn’t reported any damage to his Celestron C925 Edge.  Otherwise, the trip was uneventful.  Back in beautiful Syberiaacuse at 13°F and cloudy skies before midnight.