Christmas Star Parties
Published on Dec 20, 2009 at 1:25 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under amateur astronomy.
I do several public star parties each year. Overall, it probably amounts to a little more than one every two months. Typically, I give a public talk about some topic in astronomy, and then we do viewing through telescopes that I bring. Usually, there are a few amateur astronomers who come and set up their telescopes, too. Once in a while I schedule star parties in December. Over the years, I’ve done several December star parties. Frequently, given the holiday season, people ask me about the Star of Bethlehem. So, I worked up a Christmas presentation a few years ago about some possible celestial events that could have been the Star. I make it clear that this is all speculation. I don’t know for sure what was seen at that time, but it is fun to think about any actual celestial events that were occurring in the sky about the time of Christ’s birth. I’ve given this presentation several times in the last few years. This year, I gave it twice, last night and the week before, at different state parks in the area. Attendance was very light. In fact, the park rangers outnumbered the park guests!
In years past, my Christmas presentation has sometimes been well attended, but most of the time the attendance is light. Those who do attend it seem to be pleased, so I guess that I’ll continue doing it. I don’t have to have a huge crowd for me to think that it was a successful event.
But, for anyone else planning star parties this time of year, don’t be surprised if you don’t get a huge attendance. There are a lot of competing factors. For one thing, this was the weekend before Christmas. For me, I would think that it would be the ideal time for this program, but I tend to be a bit out of sync with a lot of people. Most other people are pretty busy with last minute Christmas shopping. I have found star parties the weekend before Christmas to frequently be very poorly attended. Adding to the timing, it was clear and cold. For astronomers, that is perfect weather! But, for the public, cold is a deterrent. Most people don’t know how to dress for the cold. Another factor that bit into our attendance is that last night the Dallas Cowboys played an important football game. They are a big deal locally, so attendance at anything tends to drop when they are playing a game, and attendance drops a lot when they play a big game.
But, it doesn’t matter to me if there were a lot of people or not. I enjoyed getting out of town and seeing a dark sky for myself. And, the rangers seemed to find my presentation interesting. As long as someone got something from the event, then it was worthwhile.
Here’s a big “Merry Christmas!” to everyone from Astroprof’s Page!
-Astroprof
garry on February 2, 2010 at 7:36 pm: 1
we enjoyed the summer sky watching parties. looking forward to many more in the coming year. thanks for being there prof.
sozo life11 on March 13, 2010 at 3:33 am: 2
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