I'm
acting as a consultant to the owners/developers of this land, with the
goal of providing lots suitable for purchase by folks interested in astronomy
& having a site that's dark sky, has strict light pollution
controls/restrictions, and has utilities & roads in place suitable for home
sites and observatories. This may be the *first* development of this type
*ever*, we're expecting a lot of interest and that these lots will sell out very
quickly after the information is made available to the general astronomy
community in a few weeks.
The
development has been informally named 'Star's End' from Isaac Asimov's classic
SF 'Foundation & Empire' novels, in which Star's End is the place of refuge
for scientists being persecuted by the 'evil empire'.
I'll
also have a major role in finding customers interested in purchasing astronomy
sites, and showing the sites to them.
The graphic above is a preliminary map of the site showing the lot boundaries, topography, power, etc overlaid on an approximately 8 year old aerial map. Click on the map to get an enlarged view.
The
picture above shows the site as seen from NM Skies. The highlighted portion is the area
being developed & shows the buildings and North ridge.
The horizon is ~ 1 mile away in the mosaic picture (above). This covers ~ 170 deg with S in the middle. The high point is ~3-4 deg elev. Usually the sky would be *blue* all the way to where the sun is, there were thin clouds moving in when the picture was taken. The few residual trees in the foreground will also be gone soon.
The night image (above) is a mosaic of untracked 30 sec shots with a 28mm lens at f/2.8 and FLI CCD camera. The lights below the horizon are from NM Skies astronomy site
Here's
some basic info on the area/site:
It's
located directly across the road from the NM Skies astronomy site, visit their
site at nmskies.com to see what the area is like. Please do NOT contact them
about this property, as they have no information about it at this time.
The
site is ~40 ac in size & is divided into 17 parcels ranging from 1+ to 7+
acres in size. Each site has an observatory site near the top of the ridge
running SE-NW and along the N boundary. The largest site has a separate
observatory site (Lot 1a) near the NW corner, & has an old house with
outbuildings on it.
The
other sites are 1-3 ac in size, each will have water, power and phones. The
observatory sites will all have a clear horizon except for <20 deg to the
north, and will have road access to both the home sites and observing sites.
Houses will not be allowed to protrude into the obs site's horizon except for
those lots with N boundaries.
The
latitude is ~33 deg, thus the S horizon offers visibility of objects such as
Canopus, Omega Centauri & Centaurus X1.
Most
lots will be wooded with clear-cuts only where necessary to have a clear
horizon. The site is bounded on the W, N, and E sides by National Forest, and on
the S by non-astronomy lots that are part of this development. These lots will
have the same lighting restrictions as the ones for astronomy, the intent is to
preserve the dark sky environment as much as possible.
The
closest large city is Alamogordo, which has lighting restrictions and is 4000+
ft lower, its lights are not visible from this site. Cloudcroft, 15 miles to the
east, only has 300 or so population & it's restricted lighting is not a
problem > 15 mile away. Also, there are 3 large professional observatories in
the area (Apache Point, Sunspot, and the NASA Mercury telescope) which have a
vested interest in minimizing light pollution. Contact Cloudcroft.com or
Alamogordo.com for info on local attractions and facilities.
Apache
Point's weather site is at http://galileo.apo.nmsu.edu/sky/weather/latestweather.html
fir info on local climate, dust counts etc. It's located about 20 miles SW of
Star's End.
The
climate here is moderate considering the altitude. Winter temps are in the teens
at night, snowfall has been below average for the past few years. Summers are
*great*, with temps not exceeding 80 deg, air conditioners are not required.
Humidity is 20-30% except during actual rain. There is a 'monsoon' season ~
June-Sep in which afternoon thundershowers are usual; early mornings are
generally clear.
Hwy
82 runs along the S edge of the property, which rises 20-30' above the road at
the S edge, thus vehicle lights are not visible from any of the observing sites
or from their home sites; traffic at night is very low.
The
developers established the lot prices at $20-25K/acre, please contact Mr.
Prentice Blanscett (505-687-3281), the Managing Partner, for detailed lot prices
and the status of the subdivision approval process.
Questions
regarding the astronomy related aspects of the subdivision may be referred to
our consultant, Mr. Andy Saulietis, at 505-687-3067, or by e-mail at iss@pvtnetworks.net
The
current status of the development is:
Lot
sizes & boundaries have been surveyed using GPS, the official
survey is in progress
Most
new roads have been roughed in and are drivable with 4 WD. These should be finished
when the winter season is over, ~April. The roads will have a
crushed stone base with gravel topcoat, to be
completed following installation of water, power, and phone lines.
2
of 5 wells exists now, 3 more are scheduled, these should be done by summer.
Each lot will have a water tap.
Power
line locations have been established. The power line along the
ridge and along the north boundary, next to the observing sites will be run
underground, with junction boxes at each lot boundary.
Telephone
(fiber optic) lines will be installed together with the
power lines.
There
is a local Internet service provider (PVT networks); DSL services are also
available.
Some
tree clearing near the new roads has been accomplished, & will resume
this spring. A cleared ‘demo’ site is ready for use now. The CCD images on
this brochure were obtained from this site.
There
will be a Homeowner's association to provide services such as
snow plowing, road & utility maintenance. These usually require an
annual maintenance fee.
Deed
restrictions are in work, and will be available in a few weeks.
Several
types of financing will be available
I
hope this info gives you the basics; feel free to ask the Developers about anything concerning the real estate aspects of the development, or
our astronomy consultant (Andy Saulietis) about
at the locations below.
Visits
& tour are encouraged, please feel free to contact us to set up the time and
place.
Prentice
Blanscett, Managing Partner 505-687-3281
Andy Saulietis, Astronomy Consultant 505-687-3067, or e-mail at iss@pvtnetworks.net
Mr.
Saulietis has 40 years of astronomy observing and telescope building experience,
including 30 years with NASA working on optical guidance systems, field testing
optical equipment at several major observatories, and currently resides near
Star’s End Estates.