[Chaos-l] Mini Star Party This Weekend

[Robert Nielsen]

Mark,

Get access?   It is a public state park ... open to the public.   You 
just need to show up before 6 PM, setup wherever you like, pay the fee, 
and stay until 8 AM, when the gates open again.   When I was there (in a 
cold drizzle) I was THE ONLY PERSON in the entire park.   All campsites 
were empty.   I saw no other human ... except the ranger at the 
office.    You would have NO problem getting a camping site.

Allen mentioned something about talking to the ranger (who he knows) ... 
I think to gain access to the park after 6 PM ... but he also mentioned 
it was "iffy".   For Allen, it's only a 15 minute drive, so he could 
probably take a shot and go home if it didn't work.   For me, it would 
be a lot more effort.

What I'm interested in pursuing is possibly reserving one of the group 
sites for an "official" CHAOS star party ... sometime in the spring!   
I'm going to check on that with the ranger ... once I've figured out 
when the new moon is in March and April ... and when the weather is most 
cooperative.   I've been amassing the Clear Sky Clock e-mails for a 
couple of years now, to start analyzing and determining when the 
clearest times are for us.    I was also thinking about talking to the 
ranger and setting up a "public access" time while we are there ... 
since it will be the International Year of Astronomy.   Of course, I 
will let everyone know what I find out on the listserv.

So stay tuned.   January 2-3 is still a possibility.   And let me know 
if you are headed over there before then ...

Robert

Mark South wrote:
> I agree. thanks Robert for your efforts to get this together
> Do you think Chaos folks could get access to stay the night impromtu? 
> The more options we have the better!
> South
>
> Sent from my cell
>
> On Dec 17, 2008, at 8:31 AM, Mark Lerch <mark.lerch at quest.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm very excited about this Robert, thanks for pursuing it.  I've 
>> observed there in the past and the skies were quite good.  To me it 
>> is well worth driving an extra hour if I'm observing 5 or more hours.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] 
>> On Behalf Of Robert Nielsen
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:09 PM
>> To: Chapel Hill Astronomical Observation Society
>> Subject: [Chaos-l] Mini Star Party This Weekend
>>
>> Everyone,
>>
>> Well, if you have been checking like I have, you probably realize that
>> the weather is not going to cooperate this weekend for our mini star
>> party at Medoc Mountain State Park.  I'm still hoping for a miracle, but
>> the weather predictions have steadily been for almost 100% cloud cover
>> and rain showers Thursday through Sunday.   We'll see ...
>>
>> But in preparation, I drove to the park today ... and it is a very, very
>> nice place.   It took about 1 hour 40 minutes to get there, but I got
>> stuck behind a couple of slow cars and trucks.  They have 34 campsites,
>> 10 of them with electricity.  There is a *heated* bathhouse with
>> showers.   There is a large field where Allen says he usually sets up
>> for observing.   There is a fireplace at the end of the field where you
>> can build a fire and keep warm.  There are also group campsites with a
>> separate field, that might be a great place to have a club star party in
>> the spring!   In all, I was very impressed ... and I didn't even get to
>> see how dark it was at night!
>>
>> So I am really looking forward to going there sometime soon and doing
>> some observing ... it just probably won't be this weekend.   Perhaps we
>> can go in January.   I'll let you know.
>>
>> Robert
>>
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