446 replies to this topic

[belliott4488]

Unfortunately I missed the actual star party, but I was there Monday through Thursday. Great pictures everyone. Keep them coming!

That wasn't too unfortunate. I was told by a couple of CS veterans that they couldn't remember ever having had four straight cloudless days and nights before there. It poured all night Friday, so I think you caught the right part of that wave!   

Edited by belliott4488, 11 September 2024 - 01:41 PM.

[Dave Mitsky]

That wasn't too unfortunate. I was told by a couple of CS veterans that they couldn't remember ever having had four straight cloudless days and nights before there. It poured all night Friday, so I think you caught the right part of that wave!   

IIRC, we had 7 clear nights before, during, and after the 2002 Black Forest Star Party.

[jg97]

Putting the target in the FOV of a 6mm Ethos, now that is something! It means you can know confidently that you are on a very borderline target. For me, star hopping, it's always a bit of a guess "Exactly where is it?" and "Is that possibly discernible AV glow it, or are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

 

Have you guys posted topics on this system over on the equipment forum?

WillR, well here you go.  Here is a quick summary on my experience with the eFinder.  

 

https://www.cloudyni.../#entry13680149

 

Hope this helps.

Jack

[reddog1972]

IIRC, we had 7 clear nights before, during, and after the 2002 Black Forest Star Party.

Yes - I was there for an 8 night stretch and 6 1/2 0f the 8 nights were perfectly clear. That being said I wasn't complaining in the least bit about these 5 days in a row of clear skies from Sunday to Thursday. It helped to make up for the crappy June weather we had around CSSP.

[Dave Mitsky]

Yes - I was there for an 8 night stretch and 6 1/2 0f the 8 nights were perfectly clear. That being said I wasn't complaining in the least bit about these 5 days in a row of clear skies from Sunday to Thursday. It helped to make up for the crappy June weather we had around CSSP.

Two other high points other than the long run of clear nights were that Uranus was fairly easy to see without optical aid and, of course, the fantastic auroral display that occurred on Saturday night.

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[belliott4488]

Two other high points other than the long run of clear nights were that Uranus was fairly easy to see without optical aid and, of course, the fantastic auroral display that occurred on Saturday night.

Whoa - for a minute I thought you meant that the aurora had been visible Saturday night of this star party - I was about to be very very disappointed that I'd missed it!

 

(No, folks - this was from 2002.)

[Dave Mitsky]

Whoa - for a minute I thought you meant that the aurora had been visible Saturday night of this star party - I was about to be very very disappointed that I'd missed it!

 

(No, folks - this was from 2002.)

That's correct.  The 2002 Black Forest Star Party was one of the very best of all the many star parties that I've attended over the years.

[Larry Mc]

hi all,

 

I've uploaded my BFSP photos. You can find them here: http://stellar-journ...rtypictures.htm

Then scroll down to the Black Forest Star Party 2024 section. Lots of scope pics, construction, people, and a few clouds,,, lol.

Still working on the trip-report.

 

Oh, and here's a time-lapse from Monday, Sept 2nd:  https://youtu.be/SLpUPusYkUE

Edited by Larry Mc, 12 September 2024 - 03:36 PM.

[WillR]

hi all,

 

I've uploaded my BFSP photos. You can find them here: http://stellar-journ...rtypictures.htm

Then scroll down to the Black Forest Star Party 2024 section. Lots of scope pics, construction, people, and a few clouds,,, lol.

Still working on the trip-report.

 

Oh, and here's a time-lapse from Monday, Sept 2nd:  https://youtu.be/SLpUPusYkUE

Thanks Larry, very nice. Great to see all the construction!

 

Photo #37 is Mike from Canada. I didn’t get his last name. That is a 17 “ he made, including grinding and figuring the mirror himself. He was my neighbor and we had some great views through his scope. A real nice guy

[JazzyCabbages]

There astrophotography part of the hobby was well represented at Cherry Springs.   Here are some photos...

These are my two scopes.  Thanks for taking pics.  I completely forgot to.

[ColossalFossil]

That was fun.  I now have a better idea of what to expect for next time.  I'll plan for a better sleep schedule to be more sociable.

I ended up staying up all night on Thursday being amazed; most of Friday night being soaked, and then fell asleep a bit early on Saturday night.

I was the one in front of the food vendor hanging everything out to dry on Saturday

Thanks for the information, presentations, and aftermarket-ticket sales.

[Skywatchr]

These are my two scopes.  Thanks for taking pics.  I completely forgot to.

I have your extension cord.   We'll meet up one of these days to get it back to you. 

[andreww71]

I headed over to CSSP on Labor Day weekend for my first observing session with the 22" since April 6th! The weather at my usual dark sky site was not looking as favorable as CSSP with only one full clear night forecast as opposed to two at CSSP. Sunday night, 09/01 was a potential third night but was still a wild card with the forecast calling for partly cloudy early then clearing out late - just how late the clearing would arrive is the $10K question. However, given the weather was going to be fantastic and I needed a break I decided to head out to the park Sunday morning. This proved to be a good decision because there were already a number of people on the field when I arrived but found a nice, less crowded spot in the large field east of Milky Way Blvd. I set up east of the line of power boxes and just a little further south of the last box. Just north of me were an older couple and their son set up to do imaging. Just north of them was another imager, Jim and at the corner of Milky Way Blvd and Star Ave was Dan.

 

We got lucky Sunday evening. By 7:30 pm there were two small storm systems showing up on the radar, one north of the park and one south. Both were pretty close. I figured there was no better way to guarantee no rain than to take the time and effort and put the tarp over the scope. So I did, and it didn't By 930 pm the sky was clear and I started to ease myself back into astronomy by checking out the Lagoon and Triffid. At 10 pm a deck of low clouds overtook the entire sky. I could see the clearing on the northwest horizon slowly heading south. Then, surprisingly, the wind picked up for about 20 minutes and was steady while the cloud deck continued to push through. After about 20 minutes the wind stopped. The clearing line was now quickly working its way southeast and just before 11 pm the sky was clear. The transparency was pretty good but the seeing was just okay. I continued my tour, using various eyepieces and filters and observed M11, NGC 6939, NGC 6946, Double Cluster, NGC 6791 M57, M27 and the Helix. I went deep for Sh2-91 and managed to see multiple sections of this faint SNR in Cygnus.

 

On Labor Day, my neighbors immediately to the north, as well as a few others on the field packed up and headed out. Marcus (sp?) moved into the spot adjacent to me where the older couple and their son were. He too was imaging and got busy setting up his two scopes and the miles of cords that went with them. I took a walk around the field and had a great conversation with Dan. I continued on and met up with a few guys that I see at my regular site. Larry, Ed and Dean. Later in the afternoon, Jim W. from Hanover, PA arrived with his 15" Obsession and set up just southwest of my location. We would spend quite a bit of time that night comparing objects in the 15" and 22" scopes including Stephens Quintet, NGC 7331 and NGC 891. I took some time on M16, M17 and M22. When not comparing objects I checked out IC 1276, open cluster cluster RU 170 and Ru 171. Ru 171 was the better of the two and quite nice in the 22". I also saw two faint planetary nebula, PNG 111.0+11.6 and PNG 116.2+8.5. I finally crashed at 330 am!

 

Jim had to leave Tuesday morning so took off early. It was another busy day with more big rigs arriving. The weather looked like it would hold off but the smoke to the northwest looked like it was going to arrive sometime late that night. I spent the day relaxing in the shade while watching all the activity on the field. Mid afternoon a large RV arrived and with really no other place to go (if he wanted a power connection) parked where Jim had been set up the previous day. Not wanting to stare at the side of his RV I chose to move the scope further east in the field. No problem. I took a walk about the field and met Eric (sp?) setting up a 25" F5 at the far west end of the field along the fence line. These scopes are always impressive to see. Things really picked up late in the afternoon with many open spots starting to fill in. Next to me was Lou with his 18" Teeter and further south of him, Erik with his 20" Obsession. As forecast, the smoke started to turn the skies to brown during twilight. One AT was over the transparency overhead was still ok by the horizons were a bit murky. To me, the transparency seemed to get better by midnight though by this time I had packed my scope up as I would be heading out early the next day. The seeing was pretty good though. I rolled though Cygnus taking in the Veil, North American and Pelican and NGC 6888. The good seeing provided nice views of M22, M13, M71, M24, NGC 6603, NGC 7789 and IC 1311.

 

Andrew

 

My final location on Tuesday, 09/03

 

Edited by andreww71, 14 September 2024 - 11:55 AM.

[Larry Mc]

hi all,

Fyi - I've uploaded my 2024 Black Forest Star Party trip report. It's a biggie - 30 pages, lol.
Here's the direct link:  https://www.stellar-.../spr2024-BF.pdf
You can find all my previous reports at: http://stellar-journ...artyreports.htm
 

Still have work to do, updating my website.  Six nights of sky can generate a lot of observations!

Looking forward to next year!
Enjoy!  Larry

[andreww71]

hi all,

Fyi - I've uploaded my 2024 Black Forest Star Party trip report. It's a biggie - 30 pages, lol.
Here's the direct link:  https://www.stellar-.../spr2024-BF.pdf
You can find all my previous reports at: http://stellar-journ...artyreports.htm
 

Still have work to do, updating my website.  Six nights of sky can generate a lot of observations!

Looking forward to next year!
Enjoy!  Larry

Larry - great report. Six nights of observing here in the NE is a praise worthy event! Remarkably, the clear sky period extended past the full moon on the 17th from where I live.

 

I don't observe from CSSP that often - was there really 300 plus people at the park on Labor Day? Wow.

 

Andrew

[impreza276]

hi all,

Fyi - I've uploaded my 2024 Black Forest Star Party trip report. It's a biggie - 30 pages, lol.
Here's the direct link:  https://www.stellar-.../spr2024-BF.pdf
You can find all my previous reports at: http://stellar-journ...artyreports.htm
 

Still have work to do, updating my website.  Six nights of sky can generate a lot of observations!

Looking forward to next year!
Enjoy!  Larry

Larry, that is a great collection of photos! Is there a way you can add navigation arrows to the photos, so that users can scroll through the gallery without clicking on each button?

Edited by impreza276, 23 September 2024 - 02:17 PM.

[Larry Mc]

.....

I don't observe from CSSP that often - was there really 300 plus people at the park on Labor Day? Wow.

 

Andrew

Hi Andrew, I could be off a little, (25 or 30) either way! 

We had huge crowds there all week, and while there was still open spaces, especially in the lumberjack 'arena', most of the prime real-estate was filled.

Edited by Larry Mc, 24 September 2024 - 06:37 PM.

[Larry Mc]

Larry, that is a great collection of photos! Is there a way you can add navigation arrows to the photos, so that users can scroll through the gallery without clicking on each button?

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them.

Yeah, perhaps when I started uploading these way back in 2007 I should have used another html code methodology for displaying the photos.

(of course back then I wasn't talking so many field pictures either).

I'm too far down the rabbit-hole at this point to change, so unfortunately, there's not much I can do, except start taking less photos,,, 

[John O'Hara]

Another great report,  Larry! It makes me feel like I'm still up there,

[Ac2aj]

Does anyone remember the company that used to sell telescope tube rings at both Cssp and BF? He used to setup up his table by the guy that makes the eyepiece boxes. They were really nice rings with holes in them. to run wiring.Thanks

Brian

[impreza276]

Was anyone here at Cherry Springs for the aurora?

[Mark F.]

Hi Andrew, I could be off a little, (25 or 30) either way! 

We had huge crowds there all week, and while there was still open spaces, especially in the lumberjack 'arena', most of the prime real-estate was filled.

I was there a couple of weekends ago - Saturday, Oct. 5, into Sunday. There must have been about 80-100 vehicles there. Surprising. A bunch of good folks there though.