Telescope Reviews: Star Party - No One Else Showed!

The Curator (Dave) and Assistant Curator (Charlotte) of our local planetarium put on a star party last night…with our family being the only other participants!

It must really be depressing to tote (2) 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrains and associated gear to a local park to be largely greeted only by silence! Dave is an old hand at this, however, and outwardly appeared unfazed. As he stated, it would help if their advertising budget were something greater than zero.

We arrived quite early, nearly the same time they did, and so tried to put ourselves to use by helping carry gear around and doing whatever we could. I was granted permission to set-up our tripod-mounted 70mm bins. It was our first star party, and we wanted to make sure to represent & accommodate the folks who favor Kenny Jones’ adage “Two eyes and a preference to use both”. As darkness rose up, my kids spotted some Roseate Spoonbills, Nighthawks, and a weather balloon nearly at the zenith. Dave estimated it at Mag –4. The parking area remained empty, save for our and their vehicles.

A cloudy western horizon knocked out any chance at Mercury, which we enjoyed earlier in the week. Overhead, more clouds quickly rolled in, although not before we got a glimpse of Saturn. Although the drive for Dave’s Meade was acting up, we did catch it zip through the field at two-hundred-something-X. The kids, as expected, were amazed. EdZ’s byline came to mind. I tried to steer the kids to M44, although conversing with serious astro people was making me light-headed.

Still no other people showed up. My kids elicited a grin from Dave when they pointed up and pronounced “Follow the arc to Arcturus and speed on to Spica”. I’m glad it did, for they heard it from both Dave and Charlotte on our several trips to the planetarium. The kids let this fact be known.

I guess I need to crawl out from under my rock more often. I was electrified when Dave said “Nu Draconis”, for it was the first time I heard that name pronounced by another human being. That, along with hearing other various other astro phrases, had me absolutely giddy. Here I was absorbing whatever I could from the two curators, all the while trying to contain my excitement and trying not to blabber too much about what little I know. My Wife later said I did a decent job of it, although by that time the drool on my shirt had dried.

Full overcast brought a teardown and a return lug of all the heavy gear to their van. We left in a sad, yet quite buoyant mood. Sad for the lack of participation after seeing how much work is involved, yet bouncing off the walls of the car from having a “private audience” with the Curators!

Honestly, the big SC’s were nice, but I only need 40-50mm of aperture to much enjoy the night sky. The presence of kindred yet far more learned spirits, however, is irreplaceable!

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Neal

G.O. Sig 10.5x70
Swift 761 8X42
60mm Spotter