The North Texas Skywatch Star Party (wrapup)
Published on Nov 18, 2007 at 11:58 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under observing.
Well, the star party went well. We did not have quite as many people bring scopes out as we have had in some past years, but the turnout was quite good. About sunset, I did a quick count of telescopes, and there were about 25 of various types. But, a number more showed up just after I counted. I was too busy at that point to keep tabs on them, though. However, the Moon was almost first quarter, and it did not set until some 7 hours past sunset, so that kept some people away who didn’t want to wait so late for the Moon to set to give dark skies. Also, some of the weather forecasts were calling for rain and clouds overnight. That didn’t happen, though it may have kept at bay some of the people who would have driven a long way to get to the star party. There was some rain to the south, and some clouds did roll in around midnight. I was tired, and I had too much to do this weekend, so I had gone home by then. This semester has been a really rough one, and I have been swamped with work.
But, there were quite a lot of people from the public, and some scout groups in the park, and they all seemed to have a good time. The Moon is always a hit with the public. But, we also got to see Jupiter and Comet Holmes. There were several nebulae and star clusters up, as well. And, of course, the Andromeda Galaxy was up, and it is always a favorite thing to look at, as well.
I took a Dobsonian from the college, along with a 120mm refractor and a 200mm Schimdt-Cassegrain. I also some 30×100 binoculars and our Astroscan. That little Astroscan has a very wide field of view, so it gave a wonderful view of the comet, which is now quite large in the sky. In fact, it always seems to amaze people at how the little thing performs. I did find that I had a problem with one of my mounts, though. The equipment takes quite a beating from the student use, and I often don’t know about problems until I get the telescopes set up. But, as with any good astronomer, I adapted, and most people didn’t really notice. I had the refractor on the Moon for much of the night. I had a red filter on that eyepiece, too. The red filter dimmed the Moon so that it wasn’t no annoyingly bright, but it also tends to show some added contrast with some features. It was a bit of a hit.
Other people brought a wide variety of telescopes, including several Newtonians (ranging from a little 4.5 inch to an 8 inch). There were the usual collection of Dobsonians and Schmidt-Cassegrains. One group brought a 20 inch Obsession Dobsonian. As always, it gave great views.
I met several people there who read Astroprof’s Page, including the Observer, who turns out to be a faculty member at a nearby university. Overall it was a nice event. I would have enjoyed it far more if I were not so worn out and so busy this semester. Maybe next year I’ll not be so stressed during the star party weekend. We do this every year at about this time, so stay tuned. I am thinking of doing my own star party in December after finals at another state park in the area. If I do that, then I think that I’ll give a presentation on the Star of Bethlehem. I did that two or three years ago. However, that weekend was the weekend right before Christmas. I thought that it would be a great thematic talk, but the astronomers outnumbered the public! Of course, people were likely busy then, but another factor may have been that the temperature was near freezing that night. Only the serious astronomy-types were eager to brave the cold. I’ll post information on that star party when I have it finalized.
-Astroprof
Observer on November 19, 2007 at 9:55 pm: 1
I said it there, I’ll say it here. Congrats on an excellent blog. Truly, a blog like this takes a ton of work, and you do a great job of compiling a lot of new and interesting stuff into a very readable and frequently updated format.