2005/04/16
Time: 1300 – 2230 hrs
Location: Red Rock Canyon, Nevada
Altitude: ~4000 ft. ASL
Weather:
- Temperature = 78 - 56°f
- Humidity = 20%
- Winds = ESE @ Calm – 15mph
- Clouds = Clear
- Light Pollution = 3/4 to Zenith
- My over-all rating = 2 out of 5
Moon Phase: First Quarter

Telescope:
- Meade 16” Starfinder Dobsonian
- Orion 100mm AstroView / LXD55

Astronomy Day 2005 - LVAS

Could there have been a better day to have first contact with my new club then Astronomy Day? I think not. The event was held at Red Rock Canyon at the Visitor Center. I knew the park is close to town and the light-pollution would lean towards the side of not so good, but after all: the point of the event is to expose the general public to Astronomy and not an observing event.

My day started out much earlier then usual. I woke at 10am when I am usually in deep sleep. I wanted to get to Red Rock so I could join the club for some Solar Observing. I opted to take my 16” Dobsonian and my 100mm AstroView. I have a solar filter for the AstroView so I mounted it on the LXD55 mount with “GoTo”: people love computers! I packed up my gear and along with my faithful dog Sierra; we headed out just before noon as I thought: “I used to love Saturday mornings. They’re so peaceful without all the hectic traffic that weekdays bring. This will be a nice drive!” But alas, there is construction on the highway and my “peaceful drive” came to an abrupt halt as I had to vie for position into the congested traffic. Once I made it to Summerlin Parkway the traffic cleared and I had a chance to look around. I realized it had been years since I’d seen this part of town in the daylight and I saw things I hadn’t even realized were there. I travel this part of town frequently but all the time at night: my, the town is growing! Places that had in the not so distant past been reserved for yucca, creosote brush and the occasional Cholla cactus were now people’s backyards, business parking lots and fast food drive-thru’s.

At the Red Rock Fee Station I told the man that I was with the Astronomy Club. He told me “since your working, the fee is waived. Have a nice day!” Working I thought – if you want to call it “working”, I wish I could work all the time! I drove up to the Visitor’s Center to find a nice turn out of people with ‘scopes set up. I met Geary, the Club President and he showed me where I could set-up. While I was setting up, different club members came over to welcome me and I felt quite at home amongst my own kind.

As I was setting up, Geary pointed out the half moon that had risen just high enough for it to be visible. My plan was to use the Starfinder for Lunar viewing during the day while the AstroView would be looking at the Sun. No sooner did I have the AstroView set up, people started coming over wanting to look. The Sun offered only one sun-spot but it was good one! In the past I’d tried to show people sun-spots but they were usually small and they had a difficult time seeing them. Not this time! I found my AstroView/LXD set-up was very steady even in the somewhat stiff winds that were coming up the Canyon. The Starfinder didn’t take long to set up and due to its size; it attracted other visitors curious for a view.

Red Rock is a great place to hold a star party and to make our hobby known to the general public. Most of the visitors already had an interest in the outdoors and things revolving around nature. They are a respectful bunch with real concerns and questions regarding the workings of our equipment and our targets in the sky. They do not seem like the “live for the moment”, “instant gratification” or “it’s all about me” type of people. Many of the parents that I talked to said they were here mainly because their children heard about the event and wanted to come. A lot of the children knew about the phases of the moon but I had to laugh when one young girl, as she was looking through the eye piece at the moon announced, “Hey, where’s the other half?” One little boy, whose name is Jacob, was very shy about the whole thing: but as the day progressed he became more vocal and started to become in a sense, my spokesperson to other people who were coming for their first look. He told me that when he grows up he wants to be an Astronaut. I had to reflect that when I was roughly his age we had just landed on the Moon and for someone like me, becoming an Astronaut was an unrealistic dream. Not so for him if our space program survives.

The young adults that attended the Star Party also amazed me. One girl was very knowledgeable concerning the relationship of biblical events and archaeological evidence. That was a conversation I didn’t expect to have but was very happy to have had. The conversation stemmed from talking about how the ancient people knew the Sun was the center of the Solar System and during the passage of time was forgotten only to be rediscovered by early astronomers of our “Modern” era.

Adults are the funniest though: they would take their glances at the Sun and Moon and then notice Sierra (my dog) lying on the ground and hiding in the shade. Ok - you’ve just looked at a Sun Spot that is larger then Planet Earth itself, seen the Moon through a 16” telescope and then you announce: “Oh look, a dog!” That’s ok, I’m lucky to have such a good and pretty puppy!

Among the visitors were people from all over the United States - some even from other countries. I talked to people from as far away as Scotland, England, France, Japan and Australia. I was jealous of the Aussies and told them so. Their reply – “I’ll be you are!”

I intended to take more pictures of the event then I did but I was busier then I had anticipated. I did manage to take some “family” photos and tried to take a picture of some birds I saw fluttering about my “station”. I think they were Cactus Wren’s or possibly Rock Wren’s: they wouldn’t stay still long enough to get a really good shot!

    

As the daylight turned to evening we had a quiet spell while most of the visitors were in the visitors’ center (how aptly named!) watching a presentation about Saturn. During this time I noticed most of the club members were moving their ‘scopes into a parking lot next to the center. Well, my little “station” is not that mobile and I felt like the odd man out until I realized the club was setting up their big 24” Dobsonian in the space that had been previously occupied by the clubs “information station”. Geary told me I was ok where I was but to be prepared to be swamped. And that I was. With the presentation over, people came out and quickly formed lines at the really big Dobsonian. I caught the over-flow and was happy to have had it. Somebody in the line pointed to a bright light in the sky and asked “what star is that?” From the darkness came another voice from somebody who surely is knowledgeable about astronomy: “That’s NGC 747”. Yes, it was an airplane.

The clubs 24”er was pointed at Jupiter while I took Saturn. I tried to go for high-power but due to lots of dust in the air I was only able to get my ‘scope up to 102x. It was enough for some people to be able to notice the Cassini Division and even the shadow cast onto it from the orb itself. Some of the visitors noticed our plight of living in Las Vegas and the battle with light pollution – the glow from Las Vegas gave the impression of a huge inferno blazing in the valley below. Maybe next time they’ll turn off their porch lights before they leave the house! (I’m just kidding!) But at least they got to see it from a distance and another lesson learned.

Sometime around 10:30pm the crowd started to thin. Most people I’m sure are daytime people and the hour was getting late. I’d say that during the entire event I must have had a couple hundred people look through my telescopes alone. I did regret not being able to visit the other club members in the lower lot. I guess it will have to wait for another event which I am most certainly looking forward too.

Thanks for reading,
Brad

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