Shaw Heights Star Party
Last evening I packed up the scope and met fellow members of LAS at the Shaw Heights Midddle School star party in nearby Westminster, CO. We often provide telescopes for local schools who do star parties in the spring and fall. This was the first time we have done so in winter; we had some doubts whether anyone would show up in the cold. The weather was wonderful, temperatures in the 40s, clear skies, no wind – not dark though, Westminster is quite close to metropolitan Denver. About 60 kids and about as many parents attended the event which was coordinated by Laboratory for Space Physics in Boulder. Lots of interest and good questions from both the kids and their parents. There were even -4 and -7 magnitude Irridium flares just 2 minutes appart to wow the crowd.
January 25th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
[…] As soon as Shaw Heights Middle School star party was over, I rushed home and set up the scope in the back yard to take advantage of the clear skies and some very good air turbulence. The first image was taken around 11 pm and is a stack of about 1200/1800 frames. Celestron Nexstar11 telescope, Televue 2.5X Powermate, and Phillips Toucam 740 (Pro). Temperature was 35° F., clear sky, turbulence around 7/10, and no wind. […]