Midnight Dan
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 615
Loc: Brockport, NY
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The local astronomy club here in Rochester, NY hosts a public star party once a month at nearby parks. The sites are not "dark sky", but dark enough and the main objective is to give the public a chance to look through some nice scopes and get questions answered by enthusiastic amateur astronomers.
As a new member, I've been to a few of these and they tend to be pretty laid back affairs. Depending on weather and how many people are aware of the parties, the public attendees are fairly few in number. Still it's nice to have a chance to talk to people who could be budding into the hobby.
Last night was different. The location for the party was right next to an area where the Boy Scouts had arranged a camp out. Several of our club members went over to the Scout camp, introduced themselves and let them know they were welcome to come over and take a look. All heck broke loose!
The next couple of hours was a constant swarm of adults and kids of all ages moving from scope to scope, asking questions, marveling at what they saw! There wasn't a minute that went by where I didn't hear someone saying "Wow, look at that!" Our intrepid group of observers became the center of swirling crowd of people that were fascinated by the scopes and the views! I felt like we were standing in the midway of a state fair!
It was a very rewarding experience! I was a Scout master in my earlier years and it brought back memories of that as well. I would have LOVED to have accidentally camped next to a group of amateur astronomers who were eager to share their views, knowledge, and enthusiasm!
Just a thought for others who might be arranging a public star party. Try to find organizations like the Scouts, 4H clubs, etc. that you can team up with. It will be a great experience for both sides! There was lots of talk about how much the scopes cost, and what might be under the Christmas tree this year, and I know we inspired a lot of potential new astronomers!
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO on Astroview mount (EQ3)
Eyepieces: Celestron 40mm, 25mm, Baader Hyperion 13mm, 8mm, 5mm
Other: Telrad, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller
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perfessor
sage
Reged: 12/30/07
Posts: 321
Loc: Northern Illinois
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Nice report, Dan. It does sound like a fun time.
Our club does a fair amount of this. During spring and fall, we regularly have events at public libraries, and get people of all ages. There have been some events in summer with scouting organizations, both boys and girls. Their enthusiasm is tremendous.
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Tom
"Don't always know what I'm talkin about"
8" f/7
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miniventures
Something Else
Reged: 09/13/03
Posts: 11056
Loc: Powell Butte, Central Oregon
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Sounds like you guys had a blast!!!
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LarryC
Volunteer
http://www.sunrivernaturecenter.org
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Bob Griffiths
Post Laureate
Reged: 10/10/05
Posts: 4187
Loc: Frederick Maryland
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Yep...I guess having a boy scout camp "in" on adjacent fields would be an absolute blast both for the scouts and for your club members... One of the local clubs host a few star parties during the summer at the Antietam Battlefield... And boy I think more then 50 percent of the tourists come back after they have dinner to pay "us" a visit... not uncommon at all to have them say "our" Star party made their trip extra special and one they will remember ...
Its really nice to attract people who have no idea of what astronomy has to offer ...
Bob G.
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CPC1100
Nexstar 8i + GPS & Rays Brackets
Denk S1 power switch
Orion 100 mm Refractor
Meade LXD 55 ...AR-5 127 mm Refractor
Exploradome Observatory S.I.E. (Smiling Irish Eyes)
39*21'03" N
77*28'12" W
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skyward_eyes
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 904
Loc: Arizona
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A group I am with here in Phoenix, AZ does the same thing. We do upwards of 300 programs a year almost every weekend. It is very rewarding and its really a fun time. Glad you had a great time.
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19 year old Astronomy Major
www.skywardeyes.webs.com
Scopes:
16" Truss
10" Orion XTi w/Moonlite Focuser
4.3" William Optics Megrez 110ED
Coronado PST (On loan)
Eyepieces:
Couple of TeleVue eyepieces, SVP GEM, and some other stuff...
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stevek
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/16/06
Posts: 1229
Loc: west michigan
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Verey nice! I love having an audience at my scope.....just curious, what targets were you showing? and which were visitor favs?
Steve
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DSO 8" f6 DOB w/ 8x50 RACI & 2"Crayford
1958 Sears Discoverer 76mm Refractor
GSO SV 30mm 2",21mm Hyp,13mm Strat,BO/TMB ver2-6mm & 4mm
1.25"Filters: DGM-NPB, 25%ND
1.25" plossls: 25mm,20mm,15mm,9mm
Orion 2X Shorty Barlow
Garrett Gemini LW 11x56mm binocs
BTG-10 4.0mW green laser pointer
"What is that burning in the sky? Tell me y'all..." Jeff Beck/Jan Hammer
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5312
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Our club has twice monthly in town public star parties. We often get good sized groups coming out to look through our telescopes and learn about the night sky. It's fun and you feel like you're helping the community.
Rich
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Midnight Dan
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 615
Loc: Brockport, NY
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Targets were mainly the "crowd-pleasers". Jupiter, Hercules cluster, Ring Nebula, Andromeda, Albireo. But there were enough club members there with their own favorites that I'm sure there were lots of other targets. I was too busy at my own scope to keep track of what other people were showing. I also showed the swan nebula which people seemed to enjoy - used my UHC filter for that one. I tried the Dumbell and Lagoon but they didn't show quite as well in my 8" scope as in some of the other 12" dobs that were out that night.
With a crowd like that, you don't really need many targets. Once you set up on one, you get a steady stream of visitors for quite a while before you get a chance to check something else out. Since there were so many dobs, my GoTo scope got a lot of oohs and ahs from the kids being amazed at how it moved itself!
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO on Astroview mount (EQ3)
Eyepieces: Celestron 40mm, 25mm, Baader Hyperion 13mm, 8mm, 5mm
Other: Telrad, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller
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David Pavlich
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/05
Posts: 6542
Loc: Mandeville, LA USA 30.38 X 90....
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Great report! Our club does an outreach in the Fall at a Boy Scout jamboree in Mississipi. That's a busy night, but it sure is a lot of fun.
David
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A few scopes and mounts.
Proud Member; PAS NOLA,
Life expectancies would go WAY up if green vegetables smelled like bacon...
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Mr. Mike
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/08/05
Posts: 858
Loc: Churchville, NY
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Hey Dan - I(Mike from work) was there but only stayed for a little while and never ended up seeing you! I also had people looking through my scope the whole time so that was cool! We'll do a side by side of the refractors soon...
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Stellarvue NG 80mm ED
Meade 7x50 Binos
Pentax XW 5mm
Meade 5K UWA 8.8mm
Vixen LVW 13mm
Vixen LVW 22mm
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Midnight Dan
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 615
Loc: Brockport, NY
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Hi Mike:
I can't believe it was so busy I missed you there!! Probably just as well. There was so much going on we wouldn't have had time to do a side by side. We may not get to it for a while now. I'm leaving next Saturday for a two week trip! I'll probably see you at work before then.
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO on Astroview mount (EQ3)
Eyepieces: Celestron 40mm, 25mm, Baader Hyperion 13mm, 8mm, 5mm
Other: Telrad, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller
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arpruss
sage
Reged: 05/23/08
Posts: 212
Loc: Waco, TX
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Isn't the Ring Nebula a bit disappointing to the public? I like it, but does the public like grey smoke rings? (Or does it look better than that under good conditions, or with a better scope than mine?)
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Coulter Odyssey 8"
Skymaster 15x70
BPTs4 8x30
25(?)mm Rini, 27mm Kellner, Owl 10mm Plossl, 6mm TMB/BO Planetary, Owl 2X Barlow
Palm TX with AstroInfo and RescoViewer
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JayinUT
member
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 51
Loc: Salt Lake City Area, UT
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I do two star parties at my school and the local astronomical society I am a member of they come out and bring six to eight scopes so that gives us nine to eleven (I have 3 scopes). It makes for a good PR and gets people introduced to the society (who hold parties twice a month on Friday's locally and every Saturday at a local observatory they have; well from May through early October). Fun times.
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KF6YBL
member
Reged: 10/26/07
Posts: 35
Loc: Southern California
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Wow, that sounds like it was a great event. I'm still trying to decide if I'm ready to try a star party with a local club. When I do finally make that first one, I hope it turns out like the party you had!
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Orion Starmax 90mm EQ
Orion 25mm Eyepiece
Konusmotor-114 Newtonian Reflector
Parks 32mm, 12mm, and 2x Barlow Eyepieces
Lumicon Digi-Cam Adpator
Phillips SPC900NC
Canon 40D & SD700IS
- Lots to learn!
website - www.pbase.com/salbano
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Midnight Dan
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 615
Loc: Brockport, NY
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Quote:
Isn't the Ring Nebula a bit disappointing to the public? I like it, but does the public like grey smoke rings? (Or does it look better than that under good conditions, or with a better scope than mine?)
It pretty much looks like a gray smoke ring. A lot of what makes the viewing interesting to the public is to talk a bit about what they're seeing. A gray smoke ring isn't interesting, but an exploding star is! I talk about how far away the objects are and how long the light took to get here, and sometimes try to put a different perspective on things as well. Like, "Can you imagine being on a planet around a star in that globular cluster and looking up at the night sky? Think how bright it would be and how many stars you'd see!"
And, I have a bit of an advantage over the dob slingers. Since my scope was aligned and tracking, I could go to higher magnifications without worry about it drifting out of the view while different people share the eyepiece. The ring nebula looks a lot nicer at 250x than it does at 80x. Of course, on some of the dimmer objects the guys with the large dobs win.
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO on Astroview mount (EQ3)
Eyepieces: Celestron 40mm, 25mm, Baader Hyperion 13mm, 8mm, 5mm
Other: Telrad, 2x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller
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snowdragonusa
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/04/07
Posts: 637
Loc: Denver, CO
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Heya Dan - Grats on a great night!
Our group was asked out to a dark sky site last night by a local teacher to present and set up scopes for about 60 adults and kids. While the sky didn't cooperate to well for us the presentations me and another member did were quite fun and I had lots of questions from the kids and adults.
There was one kid there in particular that was asking some great questions and just couldn't eat up the knowledge we were sharing with him fast enough. I presented him with his own copy of Backyard Astronomy. We scour the local bargain book sections of B&N and Borders for astro books (usually around $5) and buy up a few copies for just these occasions when youngsters show a particular interest in the night sky.
Keep up the good work! You might want to check out NASA's Night Sky Network. They have some great tools for teaching astronomy concepts to the general public and make information sharing a fun and engaging time for everyone.
Cheers!
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Adam
12" LX200R
AT80mm piggyback
DSI Pro, DSI-C, LPI
Denver Astronomical Society
Brighton Astronomical Group
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Mr. Mike
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/08/05
Posts: 858
Loc: Churchville, NY
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Quote:
Quote:
Isn't the Ring Nebula a bit disappointing to the public? I like it, but does the public like grey smoke rings? (Or does it look better than that under good conditions, or with a better scope than mine?)
It pretty much looks like a gray smoke ring. A lot of what makes the viewing interesting to the public is to talk a bit about what they're seeing. A gray smoke ring isn't interesting, but an exploding star is! I talk about how far away the objects are and how long the light took to get here, and sometimes try to put a different perspective on things as well. Like, "Can you imagine being on a planet around a star in that globular cluster and looking up at the night sky? Think how bright it would be and how many stars you'd see!"
And, I have a bit of an advantage over the dob slingers. Since my scope was aligned and tracking, I could go to higher magnifications without worry about it drifting out of the view while different people share the eyepiece. The ring nebula looks a lot nicer at 250x than it does at 80x. Of course, on some of the dimmer objects the guys with the large dobs win.
-Dan
Yep - Dan is right. Talking about what you are seeing is a major piece of the "Intrigue Puzzle" so to speak. The ring has always been a neat object to show off, IMO.
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Stellarvue NG 80mm ED
Meade 7x50 Binos
Pentax XW 5mm
Meade 5K UWA 8.8mm
Vixen LVW 13mm
Vixen LVW 22mm
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stefanj
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 11/15/07
Posts: 1350
Loc: Western New York State
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Hey Dan (or Mike) where do you guys set up?? I camp out by Dansville on the weekends and would love to take a drive up sometime and take a peek (the dob is just to big to haul to camp- so I'm usually working with the ETX or the AZ)
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Life is a circus- and I'm stuck in the FREAK TENT
If these are blue- it means the moon is full!
Meade ETX 90RA w/ tripod
Meade AZ 70
Meade DS 2130 AT
Zhumell 10" Dob
Zhumell Plossel EP and Filter set
Simmons 10x50 Binoculars
GLPx6
LPI
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Tony Flanders
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 2098
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Isn't the Ring Nebula a bit disappointing to the public? I like it, but does the public like grey smoke rings?
In my experience, yes, the public likes gray smoke rings. I've had almost universally positive responses to M57.
I think it's partly because it's such an unexpected shape. Blobs aren't very interesting to most novices, but a blob with a hole in the middle cries out for explanation.
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Tony Flanders
eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs
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Mr. Mike
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/08/05
Posts: 858
Loc: Churchville, NY
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Quote:
Hey Dan (or Mike) where do you guys set up?? I camp out by Dansville on the weekends and would love to take a drive up sometime and take a peek (the dob is just to big to haul to camp- so I'm usually working with the ETX or the AZ)
I PM'ed you regarding viewing! 
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Stellarvue NG 80mm ED
Meade 7x50 Binos
Pentax XW 5mm
Meade 5K UWA 8.8mm
Vixen LVW 13mm
Vixen LVW 22mm
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