Anza-Borrego Desert, CA This month, Mars will be closer to earth than it has been since 57,537 BC, and it wont be as close again until 2287. Southern Californias Anza-Borrego Desert is among Americas premier viewing points for astronomers, and on Sunday, August 31st it will be the site of a Mars Watch program hosted by La Casa del Zorro Desert Resort and conducted by noted astronomy author and sky photographer, Dennis Mammana. Because artificial light is at a minimum in the Anza-Borrego Desert, Mammana considers it to be one of the best sites in the world for viewing Mars. La Casa del Zorro is located approximately 90 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, about 80 miles south of Palm Springs and under 180 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
La Casa del Zorro has created a Mars Watch package for $260, including all taxes. The package includes one nights lodging for two in a deluxe, poolside room and an evening seminar on the summer deserts night sky followed by an observation program. Each activity will focus on Mars but also will include other astronomical aspects such as the Summer Milky Way and sky photography, weather permitting. Group-use telescopes will be available. For non-resort guests, participation in the Mars Watch program is $20.00.
Mammana, with a M.S. in astronomy from Vanderbilt University, has since 1987 served as Astronomer for San Diegos world-famous Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Also, he has held positions at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum and the University of Arizona, as well as authoring six books on astronomy, hundreds of popular magazine and encyclopedia articles and, since 1992, has written Stargazers, the only nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column on astronomy.
Mammanas planetarium shows have been seen from New York to Calcutta to Brisbane and, in their production, he has worked with such well-known luminaries as actor Burgess Meredith, science fiction icon Arthur C. Clarke, and Comet Hale-Bopp co-discoverer Alan Hale. As an accomplished sky photographer, Mammanas award-winning images have appeared in local, regional, national and international articles, books, websites, newspapers and television.
Zagat has ranked the site of Mammanas Mars Watch program, La Casa del Zorro, as extraordinary to perfection. The New York Times reports La Casa s service is impeccable and the Continental dishes are excellent. La Casa s 40-year commitment to wine is reflected in its collection of over 6,600 bottles, which currently boasts a Wine Spectator magazines Award of Excellence.
Surrounded by the acclaimed Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, in northeastern San Diego County, La Casa offers Deluxe Rooms that are considerably larger than typical hotel rooms and feature a sizeable sitting area, wet bar and stocked mini-bar. Second-floor rooms have vaulted ceilings and a private balcony overlooking the pool, while the ground floor rooms offer poolside patios.
La Casa is a "Four-Diamond" (AAA) full-service resort in the midst of awesome and otherwise-undeveloped nature. It is in the style of the Grand Canyons El Tovar Hotel, Yosemites Ahwahnee and Death Valleys Furnace Creek Inn. In fact, the National Park Service prices the Ahwahnee by surveying comparable lodgings: La Casa del Zorro, La Valencia in La Jolla, the Claremont Resort in Oakland and the Ojai Valley Inn.
For more information, contact the resort at (800) 824-1884 or at their web site