Re: NEBRASKA STAR PARTY Report
From: Chuck (cscappaticci_at_adelphia.net)
Date: 08/04/04
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Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 18:26:40 -0600
Great report! Sorry I missed it this year, I had to work at Nellis AFB in
Las Vegas supporting an exercise, so missed both it and my local star party
(RMSS) this year. Next year I delegate and send the worker bees and I go
observing! Thanks again, wish I was there ....
--
Clear Skies,
Chuck
"David Knisely" <ka0czc@navix.net> wrote in message
news:wzVPc.304$a%1.42@fe39.usenetserver.com...
> Report
>
> My Experience at the 11th Annual
> NEBRASKA STAR PARTY
> July 17-23rd, 2004
> Merritt Reservoir, Nebraska
>
> Once again, the Nebraska Star Party gave me the nice vacation and
> observing experience which I look forward to each year. 344 attendees
and
> their families from many U.S. states, Canada, and even England were in
> attendance for a week's worth of fun. I was off at 8:35 a.m. on Saturday
the
> 17th from my home in Beatrice for the 6 hour drive up into the high
> sparsely-populated Sandhill country, where the skies are legendary for
their
> clarity and darkness. The obligatory stop for gas at the "robot" station
near
> tiny Mason City was somewhat more financially painful than in previous
years,
> but it was no worse than I expected, and was offset by the beautiful
weather
> (70 degrees F.) and the views of the tall fixed dunes which make this part
of
> Nebraska so scenic. The star party is held each year at Merrit Reservoir,
> which is a fish-hook shaped lake about 11 miles long located 28 miles
> southwest of Valentine, Nebraska. I arrived at Merritt Resort near the
dam
> and checked into our 4-bed cabin, being the first of our little "Cabin 14
> party" to show up. After a short nap, I was up making the rounds of the
> resort to see who had arrived. I linked up with some friends from Omaha
and
> we all had dinner at, "The Water's Edge", the resort's restaurant.
Finally,
> two of my cabin mates Eric Balcom (the NSP Coordinator) and Clete Baker
(NSP
> publications chairman) arrived and we all headed out along the winding
road to
> the observing fields a few miles away above the Snake Campground.
> The sky was nice and clear, with many people setting up all over
the
> high rolling grass-covered dunes. I like something a bit more accessable,
so
> I set up in my usual lower spot near to where the blacktop road splits to
go
> down to the campground or over to Dob Row. This year, I had the new
Nexstar
> 9.25GPS SCT with me, along with an as of yet untested "X-Power" battery
> supply, so it would be a little different experience than it had in past
> years. I made the rounds on the observing fields to see who the "early
> birds" were before sundown. There were at least 40 telescopes already on
the
> fields with more being setup both there and down in the campground next to
the
> lakeshore. I heard from those who had come up on Friday that there had
been
> an Auroral display as well as clear skies on the previous night, making me
> wish I had come up a day early. Some of the big Dobs were setting up on
Dob
> row, but I wanted the first night for myself, so I headed back to my own
setup
> and sat back to watch it get dark.
> One of the things which tells you that it is going to be a good
night is
> the deepness of the blue twilight sky which lets the Milky Way start to
come
> out well before twilight ends. This night was no exception, as the
darkening
> sky let the Milky Way take on a spectacular grainy structure as if someone
> sprinkled sugar grains all over the heavens. The number of stars visible
> rapidly made picking out some of the constellations difficult for those
new to
> the star party. We looked at some of the more colorful double stars in
> twilight before going "deep". I could barely see the companion to Antares
as
> a blue spot on the edge of its rather disturbed diffraction pattern, so
seeing
> that far down wasn't quite rock-solid although transparency was excellent
as
> usual. M57 was an early target, as it's smoke-ring form was almost
blazing
> out in a rich field of stars. I kicked up the power on the NexStar, and
at
> very high power, I could occasionally see the very faint central star
winking
> in and out. I had the NexStar slewing from object to object in rapid
> succession, observing the spiral arms of M51 with ease, and even revealing
the
> spiral structure of M101 at 78x. I spent a lot of time crusing through
the
> Scutum star cloud manually before settling on a spectacular view of M11.
I
> slewed over to M4 to show a fellow from the little town of Benkleman,
Nebraska
> the cluster's band of stars which sometimes make this globular look a bit
like
> a barred spiral galaxy at low power. I worked all the "usual suspects",
> spending a lot of time on M8 and M20. M20 in particular showed an
incredible
> amount of faint outer nebulosity which can be tough to see back home. The
> three dark lanes were quite obvious even to the few "first timers" who had
> showed up to take a peek. I showed a couple of people the dark nebulae
> Barnard 86 (the "ink spot") next to the open cluster NGC 6520, and then
slewed
> manually into the light and dark lane sections of the large Sagittarius
star
> cloud. M24 also showed its rich form in spectacular fashion, with the
large
> dark nebulae Barnard 92 and 93 being quite obvious even at 78x. I went to
the
> two strings of stars near its center which I like to call "the Christmas
> Tree", as they do resemble the outline of one. I punched in M22 and left
some
> people gasping at the view of this wonderful globular. Even good old M23
was
> a real crowd pleaser. Barnard's Galaxy NGC 6822 was visible with more
> contrast than I am used to seeing in the 9.25" SCT, as was the nearby
> planetary nebula NGC 6818, "the Little Gem". I took a look at the fine
tilted
> spiral NGC 7331 and I couldn't believe how brilliant the core of the
object
> looked. I could just begin to note the dark lane and patchy ends of this
> galaxy, so the NexStar was definitely working well.
> After a few more "sight-seeing" slews, I decided that it was time
to
> "get down to business" and look at a few things which I needed the darkest
sky
> possible to view. One was the planetary nebula Sh2-71 in Aquila which I
had
> glimsed a few weeks earlier from my home. For once, the NexStar's
database
> wasn't able to satisfy me, so I dragged out the laptop and hooked it up to
the
> telescope to give it control of the instrument. A mouse click later put
me
> dead-on the target. This is a rather large faint planetary (mag. 12)
which is
> of a very low surface brightness and of an unusual shape. Megastar
plotted it
> as elongated east-to-west, but I noted it more elongated north-south, and
> Megastar's thumbnail agreed with this. It is a bit over 2' arc by 1' arc
in
> size and has what looks like either a faint central star or one
superimposed
> on the slightly darker area near the middle of the object. In fact, the
> darker region looks almost like a linear inclusion from the south,
although
> this detail was quite marginal in my SCT. After a few more slews to
> interesting subjects, I decided to call it a night, as I still had a bit
of an
> upper-respiratory infection that later spawned a rather bad case of
Laryngitis
> which lasted the entire week. I also had to be ready for some star party
> "work" on Sunday.
> Sunday morning dawned clear and bright, with temperatures rising
into
> the 90's. A group of us got up and out to spend the next couple of hours
> pounding in metal mounting poles and setting up all the NSP signs around
the
> lake and at the resort to guide the attendees. After that, I spent a
little
> time taking some pictures around the lake before heading to "Dillon's
Lounge"
> in the lower level of the Water's Edge restaurant to help with the first
day
> of NSP registration. After a fine serving of prime rib in the restaurant,
it
> was back to the cabin to see if our other two cabin mates from Iowa had
> arrived. Sure enough, they had just pulled in and were unloading some of
> their stuff. It looked to be another clear night for observing, so after
a
> brief nap, it was back out to the observing fields.
> I decided to do some extended photography of the various observing
> setups on the fields and in the campground before sundown. I saw probably
> between 50 and 75 telescope setups before it got dark, but I only got
images
> of a few of them, as I just ran into too many NSP attendees from previous
> years. I had finished a lot of my shooting, so I went back up the hill to
the
> main observing fields. Needless to say, I got stuck around the 15 to 20
> scopes set up on Dob row, and never did break out my own scope that night!
I
> spent most of my time between NSP "founder" Tom Miller with his 20 inch
> Obsession + Binoviewer and NSP Beach Party Coordinator Jim Rippey and his
24
> inch Obsession. As the sky got darker, it was clear that this night was
going
> to be even better than the previous one. One glance towards the head of
> Draco confirmed that I was seeing past magnitude 7.5 with the unaided eye,
and
> the Milky Way was simply stunning. Things like the Pipe nebula (and its
> extensions making up the "rearing horse") were easy targets for the
unaided
> eye, and binoculars showed the star clouds and dark nebulosity in a way
seldom
> seen elsewhere. Doug Bell's 5 inch Astrophysics APO refractor and the UHC
> filter provided a detailed view of the North American and Pelican Nebulae,
as
> well as providing a great view of the entire Veil (both arcs and some of
the
> stuff in between). Meanwhile, the big Dobs were scouring the region
around
> M8 and M20. Tom Miller's binoviewer on his 20 inch was blowing people
away
> left and right. We put it on M22 and saw COLOR IN THE STARS! The
overall
> cluster looked a bit yellowish-orange, but at higher power, some of the
> brighter stars showed clear white, yellow and orange coloration. M20
looked
> very much like it was hanging in space with the binoviewer, and the view
of
> M51 was simply to die for! I could see some of the small spur-like
details
> arcing away from the spiral arms, and the arms themselves were incredibly
easy
> to see. Jim Rippey's 24 inch showed the Cat's Eye (NGC 6543) as a
brilliant
> lime-green oval with clear arc-like detail in its interior. My Layrngitis
was
> getting rapidly worse as I "croaked" out at the spectacular views we were
> getting. Hour after hour we scanned the skies for new things to look at.
I
> took the helm of the 20 inch to put it on "the Blue Snowball from Hell"
(as
> Tom Miller calls NGC 7662), as Tom couldn't quite find it. It showed some
> fascinating structure in the binoviewer and was well worth the effort.
Around
> 3:15 a.m., I was getting just a little tired, and with having to help
present
> the Beginner's Field School the next day, I reluctantly called it a night.
> Monday dawned partly cloudy and hot, and my voice was nearly gone,
which
> was a bad thing considering I am the Beginners Field School Coordinator!
> Still, I managed to lug the box of 95 Field School Manuals from my cabin
(as
> well as my big "portable library"), and got into the restaurant where we
would
> be holding the first class at noon. Fortunately, my fellow Field School
> Instructor John Johnson, was able to bail me out by doing a lot of the
talking
> as my voice died. Like last year, I was startled to see the number of
people
> filing into the restaurant for the first session. I counted nearly 50
people
> and of those, a majority indicated that it was only their first of second
star
> party. We covered things like star party etiquette, planispheres, star
> atlases, guide books, constellations, binoculars, and finding techniques.
I
> particularly had fun following the NSP Field School "tradition", giving
out
> the first of our door prizes to one rather stunned youngster from
California
> who was lucky enough to ask one of the first questions! After I got done
> with the Field School, I went downstairs to Dillon's Lounge to get
something
> to sooth my throat and to check on how registration was going. The
vendors
> were selling their wares on the north side of the restaurant, and I
snapped up
> one of the last Orion observing chairs they had. Late that afternoon, our
> roomates from Iowa fixed us hamburgers on the grille outside our cabin,
along
> with delicious Iowa sweet corn. After this, we all headed back out to
the
> Snake campground for the NSP Ice Cream Social, where free ice cream and
pop
> was provided along with the first of many doorprizes. I went to my usual
> "NSP mentor" location near the split in the road and did manage to help a
> small family with their new 4.5 inch Celestron Newtonian, getting it
properly
> collimated and set up, but the clouds prevented much serious observing
until
> well after midnight. Most of us just gathered in one of the large groups
of
> attendees in lawn chairs on Dob row to talk and relax in the cooler night
air.
> Tuesday was again partly cloudy and hot, and from the looks of
things,
> we would probably be getting severe weather later in the day. The second
day
> of our Field School had around 70 people in attendance and went off quite
well
> (other than my voice still being rather croaky). We covered telescopes
and
> equipment, although like most times, we didnt' have time to cover all that
we
> had wanted to. Late in the afternoon, the restaurant opened for one of
the
> NSP catered meals, a Hamburger/buffalo burger BBQ. Cumulus towers were
> building and large sections of sky were hazed over, so I had little doubt
we
> would not be observing that night either. I went over to the observing
fields
> to take some shots of the approaching thunderstorm, and most people had
their
> scopes under wraps for the night. However, one of the things we emphasize
> about the weather conditions is that things can get *really* bad really
fast,
> and this night proved that to be true. Wind speeds started to increase
> rapidly with lots of lightning, and most of us retreated to our vehicles
just
> as the rain started and the wind really began to blow. The storm didn't
last
> terribly long, but it did some damage, as the winds knocked a few scopes
over
> and ripped a few tents out of the ground. One very nice light-weight
wooden
> telescope tube (minus the optics) was inside a tent that came down, and it
was
> blown down one of the dunes. Needless to say, it was badly damaged,
although
> the rocker box was intact. During the storm, I chased a telescope cover
that
> had blown off one of the big truss-tube Dobs and managed to retrieve it,
but
> putting it back on in the rain and wind was an impossible task. With
mostly
> cloudy skies and only a few "sucker holes" in the area, I headed back to
> Merritt Resort and met up with some friends in Dillon's Lounge where we
talked
> until nearly midnight.
> Wednesday looked a little better, although the threat of
thunderstorms
> remained in the forecast. We filled the restaurant for day-3 of the Field
> School, with Jim Hopkins of Chicago presenting the section on observing
> deep-sky objects. After this, the NSP swap meet began in the restaurant,
with
> the place filled to overflowing with telescopes, equipment, and books for
sale
> or trade. The vendors were again selling their wares, while many people
got
> looks at the sun through several telescopes including Dobson solar scope
and a
> Tele Vue 76 with a Coronado H-alpha filter. The NSP Beach Party was in
full
> swing along the shores of the lake, with swimming, sand volleyball, races,
and
> other activities. I managed to participate in the sand-wedge pitching
> contest, but my best shot went *way* over the hole. I took a dip in the
lake
> with a few friends and their kids as the monster canoe brought by Brewer's
> Canoes and Tubes arrived. This canoe is so big that it could hold perhaps
15
> people at a time, although with that many people on-board, it was a bit
> difficult to maneuver. The end of the Beach Party was marked by the
> hotdog/Bratts BBQ and the awarding of the door prizes including six and
eight
> inch Hardin Dobsonian Telescopes. A line of thunderstorms was developing
> south of the lake, but it began moving out to clear off much of our sky at
> sunset. Again, I spent most of my time with other people rather than
setting
> up myself, as I wanted to call it a night early due to the river trip in
the
> morning. I noted one gentleman from Kansas with a gigantic 12.5 inch f/10
> Newtonian on a German equatorial mount. This thing did indeed look like
the
> proverbial "sky cannon", but provided good views of the crescent moon low
in
> the west. In the middle of the observing fields is one rather steep-sided
> dune which provides an excellent view of the surrounding countryside, but
> which can be difficult to get equipment up on its top. This time,
however,
> Jim Hopkins had his 14 inch LX-200 and a friend's 12 inch LX-200 both set
up
> on this point. We looked at a few objects before I went back down towards
my
> "mentor" location near the split in the road. I observed with fellow
Prairie
> Astronomy Club member Bob Levitt with his 8 inch Meade SCT as he tried to
get
> a few galaxies in the west for his Messier award after moonset. Pete
Smitka
> of MAG-1 instruments had arrived with a set of 4 inch binoculars, so we
spent
> the next few hours going up and down the Milky Way with them. Dave
Hamilton
> of Lincoln, Nebraska had his 12.5 inch Portaball set up next to me, so we
had
> some fun looking at the comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and C/2003 K4 (LINEAR).
Both
> were fairly easy in the 4 inch binoculars as well as in the Portaball. I
used
> the binos mostly to survey the dark nebulae in and around the large
> Sagittarius star cloud, as well as to see little Barnard's Galaxy. Dob
row
> was busy once again with the big scopes working the heavens, but it wasn't
> exclusively the realm of the large Dobsonians, as a number of large SCTs
and a
> few refractors were also set up there. I called it a night after 2:30
a.m.,
> as we had the river trip the following day.
> I awoke Thursday morning to a loud "BOOM", as a lightning bolt hit
south
> of the resort. Sure enough, just before dawn, the sky had clouded up and
rain
> was falling. Still, we decided to attempt the canoe/tubing trip down the
> Niobrara river, and had a lot of fun despite a little cool rain and some
> clouds. At around 5:30 p.m., the catered steak dinner was served at the
> Water's Edge restaurant, and once again, the sky started to clear. By
sunset,
> we had a partly cloudy sky and began working the deep-sky once again.
This
> time, I did set up my NexStar to demonstrate its abilities to a friend who
was
> asking about it. Seeing was pretty good, with lots of detail visible on
the
> fat crescent moon. I observed a number of open and globular clusters
while
> waiting for moonset. Once the moon went down, I started going deeper, but
a
> narrow band of clouds covered much of the southern sky for a while. I was
> about to tear down when up from the northern horizon came the rays of an
> Aurora, so we watched that for about an hour or so before heading back to
the
> resort for the night.
> Friday was the day of the formal presentations at the Valentine High
> School. The only "work" I had to do that day was helping judge the
> Astrophotography contest, so I had a chance to buy a few things from the
> vendors in the lobby, including a "Star Party SURVIVOR" hat and a
sweatshirt.
> The swap meet also started up once again, while the formal presentations
> began in the luxurious auditorium. Adam Machajewski presented a talk on
"A
> Solar Observing Project", which was then followed by lunch in the lobby,
> provided at a low cost by Pizza Hut and served by students from the
Valentine
> High School. This was followed by Jim Hopkins persentation on Comets,
Harlan
> Seyfer's talk on "A History of Double Star Observing", and the final
> presentation, "Geologic Lunar Mapping for Apollo", by John Artherton. The
NSP
> observing awards and contest winners were announced, and the last
doorprizes
> were given out before the formal star party activities ended around 4 p.m.
I
> had dinner at "The Pepper Mill" restaurant in Valentine with a few other
NSP
> friends before heading back out to the lake for the "after the party"
picnic
> for the NSP staff behind the cabins of the resort. The sky remained
mostly
> cloudy, so the public star party scheduled for that night at the resort
had to
> be canceled for this year. All in all, the 11th annual Nebraska Star
Party
> was a success, and I look forward to attending next year's event.
>
> The 12th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY will be held Sunday, July 31st through
> Friday, August 5th, 2005 at Merritt Reservoir southwest of Valentine,
> Nebraska. For more information, check out our web site at:
>
> http://www.nebraskastarparty.org
>
> Clear skies to you.
> --
> David W. Knisely KA0CZC@navix.net
> Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
> Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/
>
> **********************************************
> * Attend the 11th Annual NEBRASKA STAR PARTY *
> * July 18-23, 2004, Merritt Reservoir *
> * http://www.NebraskaStarParty.org *
> **********************************************
>
>
>
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