An interesting view of the main viewing bldg at the Astronomical observatory on Bajas highest peak over 10000 ft tall, so sweetly named Picacho del Diablo (the devils peak,but named Enchanted peak by tourism bureau or whomever),ca 70 miles if i remember SW of the mine.
Click on the pins to see some of the varied telescopes up there- ( in comparison the largest telescope as of 1994 was the Keck -400 inches- a single mirror -ca 33 .33 ft. -now due to computer tech the largest scopes use multiple smaller mirrors linked by computer) also other buildings and telescopes off map to right taking advantage of bajas dry air.
But since its the only real weather station in the area other than Ensenada I used it to help calibrate how much precip the mine area got from the unprecedented series of storms which preceded Leross/Rkc Oct 1 trip -the last storm though dry just 2 days before their landfall - 2 inches precip in just 2 weeks 2 days-which apart from other reasons for the mine being closed,was the immediate logical explanation for the mine being closed at the time of our intrepid explorers visit.
Interesting how latitude affects things- at higher latitudes there would be no forests at the 9000 ft plus elev but due to Bajas low latitude, low precip and dry heat, the only place coniferous forests can survive is at mid and higher elevation- since every 1000 ft of elev is = to going 600 miles farther North- 1 degree of temp for every ca 186 ft elevation-which is why the wealthier people in such areas as Tucson live in the surrounding mountains rather than boiling.
Click on the pins to see some of the varied telescopes up there- ( in comparison the largest telescope as of 1994 was the Keck -400 inches- a single mirror -ca 33 .33 ft. -now due to computer tech the largest scopes use multiple smaller mirrors linked by computer) also other buildings and telescopes off map to right taking advantage of bajas dry air.
But since its the only real weather station in the area other than Ensenada I used it to help calibrate how much precip the mine area got from the unprecedented series of storms which preceded Leross/Rkc Oct 1 trip -the last storm though dry just 2 days before their landfall - 2 inches precip in just 2 weeks 2 days-which apart from other reasons for the mine being closed,was the immediate logical explanation for the mine being closed at the time of our intrepid explorers visit.
Interesting how latitude affects things- at higher latitudes there would be no forests at the 9000 ft plus elev but due to Bajas low latitude, low precip and dry heat, the only place coniferous forests can survive is at mid and higher elevation- since every 1000 ft of elev is = to going 600 miles farther North- 1 degree of temp for every ca 186 ft elevation-which is why the wealthier people in such areas as Tucson live in the surrounding mountains rather than boiling.
