19 replies to this topic

[Luna-tic]

Anybody planning on going? I went in 2018, had a great time, got to tour the 300 foot dish. Scary as heck, you're almost 400 feet up at the highest point you get to, nothing but open mesh decking and waist-high handrails, but the view is astounding. 

 

I plan to drive up from NC early Thurs. morning and stay  Thurs, Fri and Sat night, camping in the field and taking two telescope systems. I might drive over to Cass Scenic Railroad one day and ride the train.

[BrianThePrimate]

Oooo, never heard of this. Is this a regular event there? I was recently planning a trip to Greenback just to see it. I live about 2 and a half hours away. 

[Luna-tic]

Oooo, never heard of this. Is this a regular event there? I was recently planning a trip to Greenback just to see it. I live about 2 and a half hours away. 

Yes, it's a yearly event, usually around late June-early July. I think it may have stopped during COVID; I went in 2018 and have wanted to go back ever since. The GBO has some limitations due to the nature of the telescope. There is no cellphone service within about 25 miles, you cannot have radios that transmit and within a mile of the telescope itself you cannot drive a car with an ignition system, can't even use a digital camera, all due to RF interference. The camp area is just barely a mile from the scope. They have battery chargers set up so people can recharge their mount batteries, no generators allowed and I'm not sure about nighttime imaging using wifi controlled equipment. It's mainly an observing event. They are really serious about RF there, they have cars driving the roads with sensing equipment to locate signal sources. The computer room (a mile away) is a huge Faraday cage, they have wifi inside it and you can bring your laptop, and the microwave oven is also within a Faraday cage. Camping is in a field next to the main buildings, you can set up an RV in part of the parking area or a tent/small camper trailer in the field.

 

When I was there in 2018, the telescope was in maintenance, I believe they try to schedule the event during a maintenance period. Tours to the scope are given three mornings, limited to several groups of seven each. It is an imposing artifact, a mile away it looks huge, from underneath it is truly massive. The dish is 300 feet across with a surface area of almost 2-1/2 acres. The sensor array on the arm over the dish is almost 400 feet up with the telescope in its maintenance position (dish is pointed straight up). Another thing to do there is radio astronomy on the 40 foot dish, they have classes to teach you how and you can reserve time.

 

The sky is very dark, hardly any skyglow, I think it is a Bortle 3, and even with the mountain ridges it is broad and open. 

Cass Scenic Railroad is about ten miles away, it's an old logging road and they have excursions using the old Shay geared engines.

 

Registration is still open:  https://greenbankstarquest.org/

Edited by Luna-tic, 28 May 2024 - 07:51 PM.

[GOLGO13]

I'll be there. It's put on by my Astronomy Club.

[Luna-tic]

I'll be there. It's put on by my Astronomy Club.

Does your club have any control over the local weather?   Forecast is for T-storms Thurs-Sat both day and evenings.

[GOLGO13]

Saturday is looking good. We had pretty decent observing last night. I understand Monday and Tuesday were really good. I couldn't come early this year unfortunately. Still having a lot of fun with the speakers and tours

[GOLGO13]

I had a really good time, but unfortunately had to leave early for family emergencies. I understand there was observing both Friday and Saturday for some good timeframes.

 

Looking forward to next year already.

[Luna-tic]

I got there Thursday morning and sat under my canopy reading a book while it rained most of the afternoon. Rained again that evening and overcast for Thursday night. Friday night started cloudy and miraculously cleared for about three hours from 10pm to 1 am. I'm used to a Bortle 6-7 sky, and saw so many stars Friday night I had a hard time picking out the constellations. Got in some great viewing and then my corrector dewed up, I should have been ready for that. By the time I got the heater on and the corrector cleared, the skies were clouding up again.  Saturday night I was ready for the supposedly clear sky forecast, hoped to do some imaging around Lagoon and Trifid, A thin overcast just parked above the area, but you could see clear skies along the distant border. I waited until midnight, then packed up and left. 

 

Overall it was still a great time, the speakers were outstanding and it was great to get to an area so beautiful and quiet (until the fireworks started, lol.)

 

Nice sunset on Friday:

[Special Ed]

I got there Wednesday and stayed the whole time (Green Bank is only about 40 miles from my place).  The workshops and presentations were excellent as usual.  The speaker on the subject of the New Horizons spacecraft is the Mission Planner (New Horizons is about 60 a.u.'s out now in the Kuiper Belt after encountering Pluto and performing a flyby of a KBO named Arrokoth.  Another interesting presentation was by the Project Scientist for the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve samples from the asteroid Bennu.

 

Luna-tic's description of conditions is accurate.  There were pretty sunsets about every evening.  Friday night had good transparency and made the Milky Way appear very bright.  Saturday night was overcast with that persistent cloud cover until about midnight when it cleared off from west to east for 2 hours or so.

 

Here are pictures of the Green Bank Telescope on Saturday morning and of the sunset from the observing field on Saturday evening.

 

 

[Special Ed]

Here are a couple more pictures I made at the StarQuest.  Both are made with my Seestar.  The first one is the Green Bank Telescope Receiver Room near the very top of the 485 foot high scope at sunset.  I had the Seestar in scenery mode for this one.  The scope is about a mile away from the observing/camping field.

 

[Special Ed]

This next one was made with the Seestar on Wednesday night.  It is the Western Veil in Cygnus. 

 

[GOLGO13]

Great photos! I'm loving the Seestar also. Been monitoring the blaze star (still not gone nova yet).

[Special Ed]

Thanks!  I heard there were 5 or 6 Seestars at the StarQuest. 

 

I am keeping an eye on T CrB as well.  Took a one minute baseline image back in May and I've been eyeballing it regularly since then.  Hope we get to see it.

[Special Ed]

Jeff Ball just posted a video about his adventures at this year's StarQuest.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=f1Y3_xfT_TU

[Napp]

Were the dates for next year’s Star Quest announced?  I’m hoping to go then.

[Special Ed]

Last week of June but they don't have the exact dates yet. 

[Napp]

Last week of June but they don't have the exact dates yet. 

Thank you!

 

Mike

[GOLGO13]

Jeff Ball just posted a video about his adventures at this year's StarQuest.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=f1Y3_xfT_TU

Great video (I'm in there a few times). Good advertising for free!

[JimMo]

Thank you!

 

Mike

Hi Mike. This one has been on my radar and isn't too far from home as opposed to the WSP. We'll see what next summer brings. Cheers my friend!

[Napp]

Hi Mike. This one has been on my radar and isn't too far from home as opposed to the WSP. We'll see what next summer brings. Cheers my friend!

Hi, Jim.  Hope to see you at one or both!

 

Mike