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Hidden Hollow
2007
 
Phil Creed
 So who is Phil Creed? He was First "Bitten" by the Astronomy Bug: The night of the July 6, 1982,
total lunar eclipse (Age 8) His special interests: Deep-sky Observing and (especially) comet observing.
He's observed over 50 comets in his lifetime, starting with Halley's Comet.
There's a lot of people that want to live to 100; his goal is to have all his
senses intact at 88 so he can see Halley's twice, and share the view with
future grandkids.
Phil contributes data on the brighter comets for publication in the
International Comet Quarterly. Their website for recent comet mag/coma dia.
estimates is at this website.
Phil's most recently-observed comet that he submitted data on was Comet C/2006 P1
(McNaught), last on Jan. 10.95 UT, sneaking in three observations between
the clouds for that comet.
Phil's "Home" Astronomy Club is Wilderness Center Astronomy Club
(http://www.twcac.org) member since 1995. On-again/off-again member of the
Astronomy Club of Akron and the Columbus Astronomical Society. He is currently writing articles for "Amateur Astronomy" Magazine, including
a just-submitted one on haze and another on an uber-dark observing site in
northern West Virginia called Calhoun County Park. There are more articles
planned at this point but they're only in the planning stage. He knows AA
likes star party reports; so maybe an HH recap would be nice :) Phil also wanders the halls of the Cloudy Nights forums, especially the Deep-Sky
Observing and the Binocular forums.
Says Phil:
"In addition to astronomy, my other passion is weather. I've learned a lot
about meteorology via osmosis--and living in Ohio means this knowledge can
come in handy. I regularly consult Clear Sky Clock for cloud-cover
forecasts, as well as long-range models like the NAM and GFS. I pride
myself on dodging clouds for special events, if a reasonable driving time
can net me a positive result.
I was scouting out a spot in northern WV and I came across a great
spot--Calhoun County Park. I wanted to return for a "test drive" before
recommending it to others, so I cherry-picked a night and took a vacation
day. The forecast called for clear skies and light NW winds just after the
passage of a cold front. I was expecting fabulous transparency given these
conditions.
Instead, the transparency just sucked. I was grateful I hadn't wasted the
vacation days of others, but I was p***** off! Rather than stew in misery,
I decided to focus my energy on how to better understand the nature of haze
and how to track it."
We look forward to him joining us a Hidden Hollow!
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