Orion Nebula
In the frosty late night air of Palm Desert (at least in the fall/winter/early spring months) and the sparsely populated town of Mountain Center in the desperately dark Santa Rosa Mountains (utilized in the late spring/summer months), telescopes are set up in dark parking lots and night prowlers roam the grounds looking for the first big, “Wow!”. Red lights blink on and off sporadically to usher groups in the right direction. Sounds like the start of a Hollywood film, right? No! It’s the monthly star party put on by the Astronomical Society of the Desert (ASOD).
