Dreaming of a remote observatory with dark skies and great seeing?
Then your dreams have come true!
Lease a plot
It's ready for your own observatory and equipment.
Lease an observatory:
ready to install your mount, scope and camera
We have the skies. Now you can have the brilliant pictures!
Make your dreams come true.......
Welcome to SMAP!
SMAP is Located at 7269 feet in one of the worlds darkest skies - Weed, New Mexico in the Sacramento Mountains. Sky conditions at this location take your breath away. Weed is located some 20 minutes drive from Mayhill and about one hour from Alamogordo in Otero County. The county has some of the strictest light pollution laws in the USA which have been extremely effective in reducing light pollution from populated areas such as Alamogordo.
As the Sacramento Mountains are located in the High Desert it means that the skies benefit from dry clean air giving rise to great seeing - typically 1 - 1.5 arcsec - and is without doubt some of the best anywhere.
Of course you would expect the transparency to be just as great, benefiting from the altitude and dry conditions of the High Desert.
Wind speeds for the whole area are variable and as the famous presentation by Ron Wodaski at AIC2005 asserts, "The wind is your friend".
We continually monitor seeing conditions on a daily basis and keep records for every day that there are no cloud conditions. e.g. during January 2009 our average seeing has been 1.4 arcsec. Just recently we recorded a few days where the seeing got down to 0.98 arcsec.
The 'All weather Station' is located at a height of +-20feet whilst the cloud sensor is located at observatory level. This equipment is for information purposes and cannot be used as a definitive indication of mountain weather.
The site can accommodate a variety of domes, roll-offs and tower observatories- 'the sky is the limit'. We offer the opportunity to bring your own observatory and/or just your own equipment which you can locate in one of our custom made observatories. If its flexibility you are looking for then look no further. We also offer free accommodation for up to two nights whilst you set up your equipment or we can set up your equipment for you for an agreed charge.
The site has a resident astronomer who is available to trouble-shoot any system problems and provide accurate and sound advice if required. The site also has security cameras for added protection.
The site has a weather station and a seeing monitor so that you can remotely access weather data in order to plan your evening sessions. So take the plunge and make your dreams come true. Contact us or pay us a visit, we would be very pleased to discuss your requirements.
Please look at the Image gallery page to see the current Site plan for the first phase development of SMAP.
