[Chaos-l] Statewide Star Party

Sun Apr 7 10:35:28 EDT 2013

THANK YOU to everyone who helped us at Jordan Lake Farm!    (Thanks also to Walter for sending the update!)     We are looking forward to many more star parties!
Best,
Eleanor and George
p.s.  You are invited to our open house and celebration this afternoon - April 7th.     Go to  www.jordanlake.co   for details.
Jordan Lake Environment Education
1434 Farrington Rd., Apex
919-360-6418

On Apr 6, 2013, at 10:07 PM, walter fowler wrote:

> We had 20 or 25 people at Jordan Lake Environmental Education off of Martha's Chapel Rd for the Statewide Star Party.  Tony Hopp and Karl Kachergis brought "big" scopes and I had my Teleview 85.  There were many little kids and much talk about what scopes to buy!  George and Eleanor have a nice observing field and are open to having more observing sessions there.  This is between the Fearrington Rd Boat Ramp and Ebenezer Point but doesn't have the traffic!  There is an "open house" with live music at the site tomorrow (Sunday) from 3-5.  Directions are on the State Science Week site but the house is on the right not the left of Martha's Chapel Rd.
> 
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> On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 5:50 PM, MIKE AND BOBI GALLAGHER <mikeandbobi at gmail.com> wrote:
> We had 20 at Eno River State Park. Ranger Amy Duggins gave a presentation in the park office at 8, then at 8:45ish folks headed over to the circular parking area, where I had set up my scope. 
> 
> While waiting, it was an amazing experience for me to be all alone watching Jupiter and the stars come out. I can't think of when last I had that solitary time with the stars. Well, the visitors were enjoying also. As usual, I think the Orion nebula was most fun for folks to see in binoculars. I had brought 15x70, and heard some very happy "WOW"s.
> 
> A few even got to see the Beehive and the 3 Ms in a row in Auriga. Fun folks to chat with and a glorious evening.
> 
> Thanks to the organizers!!!
> 
> 
> On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 1:40 PM, Tony Garcia <randomcoffee at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
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> 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. 
> 
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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! 
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> Steve Andrews
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
> 
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> Jayme
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