What this cache is:
This is a cache representing Halley’s Comet. It is part of the Northern California Solar System Model, which also includes eight planet caches located across the Bay Area and the Central Valley. NOTE: Pluto is no longer included in the calculations! Be careful!
Prerequisite:
You must have found all eight planet caches, and collected the Comet Numbers found at each one, to find this cache.
What to do if you have found all eight planets:
Sum all eight East Comet Numbers together. That should give you a six digit number that ends in 8. Now, separately, sum all eight North Comet Numbers together. That should give you a seven digit number that ends in 7. If this isn’t the case, then check your math, or check your Comet Numbers - you’ve made a mistake and you won’t find this cache!
This cache is very traditional - it is an ammo box in the woods. The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates of the cache are in zone 10s. The easting is computed by taking your East Comet Number and subtracting 83299. The northing is computed by taking your North Comet Number and adding 146835.
Why the difficulty rating of 5?
This cache has a difficulty rating of 5 due to the large amount of travel required to reach it (over 325 miles total for most folks.) The cache itself, if it were just a single-stage, would have a difficulty rating of 2.
Upon placement, the cache contained:
- space mini-projector (requires two AA-batteries, not included)
- book: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo
- book: Peterson First Guide to Astronomy
- book: Peterson First Guide to the Solar System
- book: Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets
- book: Smithsonian Handbook to the Stars and Planets
- book: Don't Know Much About the Universe by Kenneth Davis
- book: Stars and Planets, 2nd ed. by Joachim Ekrutt
- children’s book: Finding Out About Sun, Moon and Planets
- postcard book: Scientific American Solar System Postcards
- 6 sets of space-themed stickers
- starwheel, to display stars by season for latitudes 30-40
- glow-in-the-dark solar system and stars for applying to doors, ceiling, walls
- 3 blue comet bouncy-balls
- Lick Observatory solar system socks (medium size)
- comet "bizzy balls" for cats (sorry, Marwagsalot!)
- 2 glow-in-the-dark puffy stars
- small collection of astronaut action figures
Feel free to take ONE of the collector coins:
Why is the cache located in this area?
We placed the cache in this area because near to this cache (within one mile) is the Chabot Space and Science Center. This center provides, in our opinion, the best collection of telescopes that are regularly open to public use (on Friday and Saturday evenings.) (We are not affiliated in any way with this center - we are just big fans!) If you want to cap off your caching tour of the solar system by seeing some real planets, you might want to try visiting this place.
Be careful!
You are walking in a wooded area! It is entirely possible that there is poison oak, or nasty bugs, are in the area! Caveat cacher!
Other stuff:
Please consider visiting the other caches in the Northern California Solar System Model. You’ll note that there are now other types of objects listed, as well as planets. These are a wonderful extension of the series that bthomas and shadow101 have built.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Why no Pluto?
A long time ago, we had debated removing Pluto from the series, as it is no longer (and never should have been) considered a planet. When it went missing our debate continued, but scientific truth won the day. All romance aside, if you study its properties, you can see why it shouldn't be considered a planet. Also, removing it subtracts almost 100 miles of driving from this cache series, and that's not a bad thing in this day.