April 10, 2010 Star Party Reports

We had a very nice star party last night. We had clear skies all evening, with great transparency early in the evening that faded just slightly sometime after 10 PM. We had more than 25 people and over 15 scopes, which ranged in size from a very small refractor up to Chris Todd's big 18" dob. I personally saw M42, M44, M67, M81, M82, M3 and M1 (dim even in Chris's scope) as well as Mercury (which was about half full), Venus, Mars and Saturn. We had a pretty good turnout from the public and I heard a number of comments about how grateful they were for the willingness of so many HAL members to share the views through their scopes. The last few people left and I locked up the park around midnight.

Next Saturday, April 17, we have Greenfest at Howard Community College in the daytime and a members-only star party at Alpha Ridge in the evening. If weather permits I'll be at Greenfest with my PST to show off the Sun to members of the public, if anyone else has a solar scope and is free to join me I could sure use the help. Bob also could use help indoors with our exhibit on light pollution. Hopefully we'll have another day of beautiful weather for both events.

Clear skies,
David (Stein)

Let me add my thanks to David for hosting last night's star party. There were a fairly large number of the public present, and HAL members displayed their welcome and hospitality to the very best. I met several visitors who for the first time in their lives saw Mercury, the rings of Saturn, Orion's Nebula, other galaxies, etc. I kept up a running tutorial on light pollution for most of the night, and you could tell that lots of folks had never heard or thought about it before last night, and went away on "our side". All in all, this was public outreach at its finest! Thank you to all who brought out your scopes, and shared them with strangers. I know your generosity was highly appreciated - I was told so repeatedly by the visitors as they left. A great success!

Bob (Prokop)

Bob
I'll ditto all of that. Although a member, this were my first star party in many a year. What a pity, though, that star parties can't be held earlier for those of us who need to arise early the next morning <grin>. It's been many a year that I've seen Mercury and with Venus in the same breath. Wow! And thanks to those of you who helped with filling me in on the vissicitudes of setting up for astrophotography. All those rings and spacers can be confusing and intimidating. Hopefully you will see me next Saturday, this time with my antique C8.
~ Gerald (Elgert)

Hi,

I agree that it was a great star party: the weather was fine, the transparency was excellent, and HAL was doing what it does best -- sharing the sky and our knowledge with members of the general public.

There was one couple from Frederick who saw the party on our website and came wanting assistance with a telescope they received for Christmas. It was a small Meade refractor on a GoTo mount, and they had been having problems getting it to work properly. With patient assistance from several people, most notably Peter Friedman, they finally got the mount aligned and were absolutely thrilled to see Saturn through their own scope for the first time! They searched for, and found, several Messier objects before they abandoned their scope to peer through others that were set up. About an hour later, I peeked through their scope and M37 was still in the field of view -- a fine testament to both the mount and the accuracy with which they got it aligned. I truly believe they will be more successful the next time they try it on their own. Thanks, everyone, for helping them out - whether they join up or not, we made some friends.

Wayne (Baggett)