Celestron and Granite Gap team up for dark skies

Celestron Community Relations Coordinator Kevin Kawai (right) delivers a Celestron CGE Pro 1400HD telescope to Gene Turner for his new astronomy development, Granite Gap near Animas, New Mexico. Kevin Kawai photoWe all crave easy access to truly dark skies to whet our observing appetites. And for years, developer Gene Turner has opened up the inky-black Southwestern skies to the amateur astronomy population with locations like the Arizona Sky Village near Portal, Arizona, and Rancho Hidalgo in Animas, New Mexico. Now, with his latest project, Granite Gap, Turner is teaming up with Celestron to bring great optical equipment to the location. Kevin Kawai, Celestron’s community relations coordinator, just spent some time in New Mexico to deliver some pieces to the site. Here’s what he had to say about his visit:

Celestron and Astronomy magazine have found observatory homes at Gene Turner’s Rancho Hidalgo location near Animas, New Mexico. Pluto-discoverer Clyde Tombaugh’s personal telescope stands tall in the background. Kevin Kawai photoRecently, I traveled to southwestern New Mexico to present a CGE Pro 1400HD and several Digital Microscopes to astronomy enthusiast and land developer Gene Turner. Gene is in the process of creating the ultimate “affordable” dark-sky observing site called Granite Gap, ...