Texas Star Party. April 19-26, Jon Blum

Transcription

1 Texas Star Party April 19-26, 2009 Jon Blum

2 History The Texas Star Party has been going on every April or May or June for 27 years, since Attendance grew from 582 people the first year to 800 in They presently limit it to 700 people, but this year there were only 481, probably because of the economy. About 2/3 of the people come for the entire week. About 70% of the attendees come from Texas.

3 Prude Ranch TSP is held at the Prude Ranch, a family-owned hundredyear-old cattle ranch and horseback riding camp and kids summer camp, in the desert.

4 Location Prude Ranch is outside of Fort Davis, in southwest Texas The nearest town, Fort Davis, 6 miles away, has a population of Alpine, about 25 miles away, has El Paso, where you fly in to get to the TSP, has 700,000 people, but is 200 miles away. Prude Ranch is 12 miles from McDonald Observatory, so there are light restrictions in the surrounding area, keeping it very dark and perfect for astronomy.

5 Dark Skies Sky Quality Meter reading (average of 3 readings at the zenith) = Limiting Magnitude 6.5 Stars were visible down to the horizon in all directions. Zodiacal Light and Milky Way extremely bright. Dim low constellations such as Virgo, Libra, Crater, easy to see. Latitude 30.6 North. Elevation 5040 feet.

6 Getting There Most people drive. Mapquest says it is 1660 miles and 26 hours driving time from Detroit to Fort Davis. Bill Beers, Dave D Onofrio, Joe Ruggirello, and I flew. Air fare was $239 from Detroit to El Paso (changing planes in Dallas), and then we had to rent a car (about $400 for a van for the week for the four of us) and drive 200 miles (just over 3 hours) from El Paso to the Prude Ranch. Phil Martin drove, and pulled a trailer with the telescopes and other equipment for those of us who flew. Jim Shedlowsky drove from his winter home in Arizona.

7 Weather High Low Rain April May June Our week was a little warmer than normal for April, with highs in the lower 80 s, lows in the lower 50 s, and no rain. We had clouds that prevented observing 2½ nights and completely clear skies the other nights. There have been years when all nights were cloudy or partly cloudy, but typical is to be clear on half of the nights of the TSP.

8 Arranging to Go You ll need to apply to go to the TSP by the January before the event, in order to be in the group from which they randomly select the 700 people they allow in any year. This year there was no need for that advance application, because far less than 700 people wanted to go. The price is $50 if you register by mid-march, or $150 if you register later or if you pay at the door (assuming they are not full and you can still get in). If they have over 700 people apply, they will let you know by in February whether you were accepted or not. The website to register (and for lots more information) is texasstarparty.org

9 Accommodations When you apply online for the TSP, you ll also have to apply at the same time for accommodations at the Prude Ranch. There is enough covered housing (motel rooms and bunkhouses) for about 300 people, and they are chosen randomly from those who apply. Everyone else stays in tents or campers, or off of the property. Prices per person per day are Camping $9.25 RV $19.50 Bunkhouse $40 Family cabin $56 ($50 if 3 or 4 people) Motel room $77 ($62.50 if 3 or 4 people) Lunch and dinner are included in covered housing, or cost $160 for the whole week if you are staying in a tent or RV. I stayed in a motel room with Dave D Onofrio and Joe Ruggirello, so my cost for the week for room and meals was $ ($62.50 x 7 nights).

10 Motel Room

11 Inside Room Motel rooms have 2 double beds and a bathroom with a small shower

12 Cot Joe brought a cot and sleeping bag. If nobody brings their own bed, and you put more than two people in a room, then somebody will have to share a double bed.

13 Red Light

14 Setup

15 Bill

16 Dave

17 Jim

18 Phil

19 Jon

20 Tallscope

21 Dobs Tarps under each telescope help cut down on dust kicked up when we walk around by our telescopes. Tarps also help us find small accessories that we may drop on the ground. And a tarp helps you stake out your territory so nobody else will set up too close to you and your equipment.

22 Dob

23 Dob

24 Our area

25 Jim Guitar

26 My scope & couch potato Sim Picheloup

27 Computer guys

28 Phil backpack

29 Mountains

30 Central Field

31 Buffet

32 Dinner Table

33 Menu

34 McDonald Observatory

35 McDonald Guys

36 82 inch Otto Struve, built 1939

37 107 inch Harlan Smith, built 1968

38 433 inch (9.2 meter) Hobby-Eberly, built 1997, Multiple 1-meter hexagonal mirrors

39 Back of hall

40 Front of Hall

41 Astronaut talk Astronaut Don Pettit, inventor of the zero-g coffee cup, showed us photos on and from the International Space Station

42 Vendor

43 Vendor

44 T-shirts

45 Prizes

46 M17 Swan by Bill

47 M88 by Bill

48 Saturn by Bill

49 Markarian s Chain by Phil

50 M20 and M8 Trifid and Lagoon by Phil

51 M42 by Phil

52 North American Nebula by Phil

53 M81 and M82 by Phil

54 Friends

55 Next Year The next Texas Star Party will be May 9-16, 2010

56 Fly