Astronomy / Telescope / Stargazing
Grand Canyon, Arizona (Dark-Sky Site)
New Moon
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2004/06/12-19  

GRAND CANYON STAR PARTY – 2004 [Page Two]
By: Brad Campbell / aka: NEVERS

- DAY ONE & THE WEEK @ A GLANCE:

I woke at 10am to the strange sounds of Ravens going about their midmorning business. I made my beverage of choice (coffee) and spent the morning hanging out at camp talking with JC. Today looked like it would be a nice, clear day with only slight breezes. At 12:30pm we had our traditional Pizza Party at Elaine's campsite which is known as "Astronomy Station Central". (Really I just made that up!) Some of us got slightly out-of-hand and Law Enforcement Troops had to be called in to restore the peace.

After the situation had returned to normal we did some solar observing with a few 'scopes that were set up.

4:30pm came rolling around with no JC in sight: I headed up to Yavapai by myself forgetting that Thom & Ellen had a feast waiting for me at their camp. (I was later reprimanded for my absence!) Each night we had about 40 individuals who brought their telescopes to share with the public. Most of us were staying the entire duration of the star party. Tonight I was a little more organized after the first night/day which was rather hectic after the long drive and time spent getting reacquainted with old friends and making new ones.

    

Dean Ketelsen, our event organizer and founder of the Grand Canyon Star Party wanted everyone to know: “my other ‘scope is an 8.4 meter”. Talk about aperture fever!

As the sun fell below the horizon the general public was given the opportunity to attend a lecture at the Yavapai Observation Point about astronomy. Each night’s talk was given by a different member of our group. After the lecture concluded is when the rest of us came into play by showing people the wonderful deep-sky objects most of them never realized could be up there. Many of our guests asked: “Where are all of you from? And why are all of you here?” “Is there something special going on tonight?” The answers are these: We are mostly from Arizona and the surrounding states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Some have traveled from as far away as Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee & Virginia to give of their time to this event. Some belong to various clubs and some of us are just renegade loners. We are here because you are here and your presence is all we need to make it a special event! We thank the public for allowing us the opportunity to share our hobby with them. They are a most enthusiastic and interested group of people that came to look: some of them are however, slightly misinformed. One day while we were setting up our ‘scopes and cars were still passing through the parking lot, I heard a voice answer an unheard question: “…oh, those are the astronauts going to show us astrology.” Hmmm? Another frequently asked question is: “Have you ever seen any aliens through your telescope?” The answer is a most definite “no”! But…I have seen the next best thing: an alien on a telescope! And…I have the proof to boot.

Most evenings started off by looking at Jupiter. Our guests seemed more enthralled by the moons rather then the detail some ‘scopes were getting of the King of Planets. Most called them “Rings” when of course they are “Bands”. (I wish I had a ‘scope that could see the Ring around Jupiter!) Some people like me, live in big cities and were amazed they could see the Milky Way so bright and clear. Hopefully the dark skies that reside above the Grand Canyon will drive home the fact to some that we are drowning nearly unnecessarily in a sea of light that is obscuring a beautiful part of the heavens that people who lived not so long ago could enjoy at will.

Many people also asked the question “what ‘scope out here gives the best view?” My answer to that is that each ‘scope has the potential to give the best view of different things. The best view is in the eye of the beholder whether it be the Giant Red Spot on Jupiter or instead; the Gas Giant with its moons strung out like a chain of sparkling diamonds set against a backdrop of darkness. Some of our visitors mentioned they had a ‘scope at home, but said that most of the time, it sat in their closet. It is my hope that due to our efforts at least some of them will be taken outside and used to the best of their potential: after all, the best ‘scope is the ‘scope that gets used the most!  One memorable moment I had was while I was showing off Jupiter during the evening hours with daylight still haunting the sky. I had my 16” Dobsonian running at 203x and had to move the ‘scope every second person in order to keep it in the eyepieces field of view. A mother who had a little boy of only four years of age was standing in line and when it came his turn to climb the ladder, he did so ever so carefully and put his eye to the eyepiece. He squinted and changed eyes a couple of times but I saw no reaction on his face. I asked him if he could see it and he shook his head “no”. I knew it wasn’t there because he took so long to climb the ladder up to the eyepiece. I asked his mom if she could just hold him for a second so I could adjust the ‘scope. When I was done she set him on the top rung and again, he put his eye to the eyepiece. I asked him again: “can you see it?” He didn’t have to answer verbally: the ever-widening smile that crept onto his face was answer enough.

Many of our visitors were from further distant lands than we amateur astronomers were. Accents ranged from places all over the world. Their main goal or course was to see the Grand Canyon and we just happened to be a pleasant surprise. Sometimes the best surprises are the ones you don’t expect! Like when I was showing off M13, the wonderful Globular Cluster in Hercules at 120x and found out that the words “Oh, My Lord!” are a pretty universal phrase no matter what language you speak. Another phrase that needs no translation is “Ohhh….Ahhh!” The universal message of a silent handshake and eye-contact also works to say “Thank-you” when words escape you. Our visitors, to say the least were a gracious welcome no matter what language they spoke.

(At this point in my "report" I'd like to venture away from the day-to-day ranting and continue with my more over-all impressions of the star party. On later pages I'll add some more pictures from the event along with my more mundane verbiage.)

As always, the “public” part of our time at the Grand Canyon is what we all came for. But after they have gone back to their own camps or rooms is the time to visit and to ask questions of your own whether it be about astronomy or the equipment used in the hobby. Believe me; I did my fair share of asking and looking.

  

I also used the late hours after public viewing to grab a few faint fuzzies that are not visible to me unless I travel at least 50 miles from my home. I closed down the parking lot each and every night before returning to camp.

The daylight hours at the Grand Canyon found Dean, Dennis, Roy, JC and Steve set up somewhere along the rim of the canyon or at the general store drumming up business for the star party by showing off sunspots and prominence of the sun through their ‘scopes. I on the other hand I tried to sleep the day away or hung out at camp chasing off Ravens or trying to take pictures of birds.

During the following days things went mostly according to plan. Except for one day when we received a few brief but annoying rain showers. The weather didn’t clear until after midnight but surprisingly, after it cleared, those with ‘scopes that remained were able to show off the night skies to a few die-hard people that returned.

One night, with the help of my new friend Bob and with Steve’s awesome telescope, I saw the most distant object I’d ever seen: a Quasar with the nondescript name of 3C-273.0 residing in the constellation of Virgo. This object is said to be 1 – 2 Billion light-years away. I think I’ll need a few more tokens! Maybe I’ll just cash in some frequent flyer miles instead.

Roy, who is from Tennessee had to fly to the Grand Canyon and wasn’t able to bring his 18” ‘scope. He opted to bring his better-suited-for-traveling sized 4” ‘scope. Roy is a rather tall man but his ‘scope was not short on a great view: He showed off an object that eludes most ‘scopes: The North American Nebula in Cygnus. I could even make out San Antonio, Seattle and possibly Philadelphia!

Ara, The King of Clusters, was on-hand manning his large 24” ‘scope...

...while Dennis, our fearless leader, did some acrobatics next to his 28” ‘scope.

The following pages have pictures of people and their 'scopes followed by a page of nice pictures of scenic Grand Ganyon, then my boring daily "reports (with more pictures) and lastly my conclusion of GCSP.