[Chaos-l] Statewide Star Party

[Tony Garcia]

I was at the Ebenezer Jordan lake spot and was quite similar to everyone
else, fantastic night.  At nearly the end of the evening we were also able
to pull in Saturn as it rose in the east which was very exciting for many
people. Jupiter, the Orion nebula, and the Pleiades were the other
highlights.

Jupiters moons put on a good show, the seeing seemed unsteady to me and
seemed to get worse towards the end of the night - however my telescope was
a bit out of collimation so I can't say for sure.    Interestingly --
someone told me the "hazy" view of Saturn low on the horizon was the best
for them as it gave them a perspective of the Earth, planets, etc., where
very sharp, nice images do not.

I am not good at counting crowd size but I think the planetarium crew that
was there was taking a census - I would guess - 30 - 50 people?

There were approximately 6 telescopes and I am always surprised at these
events at how many people were looking through telescopes for the first
time.

There was a lot of interest in buying telescopes and I had several
conversations about starter telescopes - and ipad astronomy software - I am
recommending Sky Safari Pro which is what I am using now, and am very
impressed with.  People are generally familiar with several ipad astronomy
apps so it is more of a favorites discussion then anything.

-tonyg



On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 11:16 AM, Steve Andrews <theandrews at nc.rr.com> wrote:

> Marbles Kids Museum worked out very well.  They were great hosts, and I’d
> definitely go back there anytime.  Downtown Raleigh is a challenge for
> finding unobstructed views, but we did it!  From about 4:30 until 6:45, I
> had a steady flow of families wanting to look at the sun through a visible
> light filter at about 50x.  I had printed a picture of what the sun looked
> like that morning from Spaceweather. Com, and I think that simple visual
> aid really helped folks understand what they were looking at.  ****
>
> ** **
>
> Mickey (Morehead Planetarium) arrived with her star maps and she did great
> keeping people informed and entertained while they waited patiently for
> their turn at the scope.  It didn’t hurt that there was a hot dog stand
> next to us, and that was also a popular spot.  Museum staff had exhibits
> for demonstrating light pollution nearby, so there was a variety of things
> for visitors to look at, eat, and listen to.****
>
> ** **
>
> Around 7:30, it was dark enough to begin observing Jupiter and its moons
> at 100x.  There were still a lot of folks around, and I think  I heard even
> more “Wows” than before.  A few parents wanted to know how to pick a first
> scope for their kids, and I pointed them to some good resources for getting
> started.****
>
> ** **
>
> All in all, we had a very good, and interested crowd.  I didn’t keep track
> (too busy!), but there were dozens, perhaps a hundred or more, who visited
> the museum’s astronomy exhibits and were able to take a peek through my
> scope.  All before 8:30!  ****
>
> ** **
>
> Steve Andrews****
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Jayme Hanzak
> *Sent:* Saturday, April 06, 2013 9:36 AM
> *To:* CHAOS
> *Subject:* [Chaos-l] Statewide Star Party****
>
> ** **
>
> OK, so the first Statewide Star Party is in the record books. ****
>
>  ****
>
> We had about 30-35 people show up at Little River Park in North
> Durham/Orange. We had four telescopes and five CHAOS members. As usual it
> was great fun.****
>
>  ****
>
> How did everyone else do? Send a report and say who was there from CHAOS.
> I know that  we had at least 13 members out in the field yesterday.
> Probably closer to 20. That is amazing.****
>
>  ****
>
> Great job Amy and Mickey! And a great job for all of the CHAOS and
> RAC members who were out there sharing the Heavens with public.****
>
>  ****
>
> Jayme****
>
>  ****
>
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