Saturday Night at This is the Place
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought. Ann M. Blanchard Executive Assistant to the Associate VP Undergraduate Studies 110 Sill University of Utah (801) 581-3188 a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu
Ann, decades ago in my youth, my friends and I flew our radio-controlled sailplanes from those very same hills because the wind blew almost all the time. I grew up in the UofU neighborhood and spent a lot of time in the hills east of SLC. That said, any star-party with a direct view of city lights must be taken for what it is- public outreach. It's not an ideal site by any means, but if you can't bring the public to the star party, you bring the star-party to the public. This is one of the trade-offs. My wife and I stopped-by the Harmons star-party on Friday night briefly, but as we were both not 100% physically, we didn't stick around. Attendance there was remarkably high, both general public and SLAS members. You couldn't turn around without almost bumping into a telescope. It's been a long, cold winter! People are glad to get out again, even at mediocre venues. On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 8:31 AM, Ann Blanchard <a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu> wrote:
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought.
Sorry we didn't see you at Harmons, we were there as well and it was a great turn out. And you are correct, people were so glad to be out at long last it was a lot of fun. I'll stick to being happy to bring star parties to the public at Harmons, and other star parties, but since I'm just not a wind person (rock hunting in Wyoming in that endless wind used get to me too), I'll skip This is the Place. One other fun thing at the Harmons party was a group of students from Roland Hall all came with their class projects of home-made telescopes. They were great! -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 12:53 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Saturday Night at This is the Place Ann, decades ago in my youth, my friends and I flew our radio-controlled sailplanes from those very same hills because the wind blew almost all the time. I grew up in the UofU neighborhood and spent a lot of time in the hills east of SLC. That said, any star-party with a direct view of city lights must be taken for what it is- public outreach. It's not an ideal site by any means, but if you can't bring the public to the star party, you bring the star-party to the public. This is one of the trade-offs. My wife and I stopped-by the Harmons star-party on Friday night briefly, but as we were both not 100% physically, we didn't stick around. Attendance there was remarkably high, both general public and SLAS members. You couldn't turn around without almost bumping into a telescope. It's been a long, cold winter! People are glad to get out again, even at mediocre venues. On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 8:31 AM, Ann Blanchard <a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu> wrote:
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought.
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I brought my DOB to the monument on Saturday and had a great time. I left the shroud off to lessen the wind problem and was able to easily resolve stars in M3. I also picked up M65 and M66 but NGC3628 was lost in the moonglow. I set up on the east side of the viewing ground and pointed east and the sky was dark and the stray light minimal. Be aware that as the year goes on, that wind will be getting warmer. I would say that the monument is at least as good as SPOC for viewing. Half the sky is fairly dark and the other half is in the light dome of the city. Only at the monument the dark sky is to the east. People who set up to the west of me had line of sight to Rice Eccles Stadium which was lit up for a soccer match. Moving around to the east of the makes a big difference. I may set up in the parking lot next time as it's even farther from the lights. Only question remaining is the monument sprinkler schedule. The only down side of the night was being sneered at for having a different telescope than everyone else, but I've come to expect that from SLAS. DT ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ
Oh, come on, Daniel, you must know that these kinds of remarks are in jest. Rich and several others in SLAS also have large truss-tube dobs. Frankly I'd rather have one of those than a "Meadetron", myself. Or have you had your sense of humor surgically removed? On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 2:34 PM, daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com> wrote:
The only down side of the night was being sneered at for having a different telescope than everyone else, but I've come to expect that from SLAS.
Hey, all the COOL people have open truss dobs! Jo Grahn, Don Colton, Lowell Lyon, Steve Dodds, Debbie Whitaker, Ken Harris, Scott Crosby, Charlie Green, etc., not to mention Daniel "Galaxy Hunter" Turner, and just to name a few... ;o) --- Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh, come on, Daniel, you must know that these kinds of remarks are in jest. Rich and several others in SLAS also have large truss-tube dobs. Frankly I'd rather have one of those than a "Meadetron", myself.
Or have you had your sense of humor surgically removed?
On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 2:34 PM, daniel turner <outwest112@yahoo.com> wrote:
The only down side of the night was being sneered at for having a different telescope than everyone else, but I've come to expect that from SLAS.
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Hi Ann and All
This is The Place is a trial for the future, I would direct comments to the SLAS BOD's concerning your likes and dislikes. The wind could be an issue, Immigration Canyon does create morning and afternoon winds, as I recall, they usually die down when the sun sets. With gas prices soaring and if they continue to go up $.75 a gallon in a couple more years gas will be $5-$6/Gallon, with India and China's growing demand, this seems likely. For this years RTMC attendees, California is almost there now, as Leno joked they are living in the future. SPOC will likely be impacted negatively, at least for people coming from the SL Valley. I for one, would like valley locations for Star Parties other than Harmons (not intending to eliminate Harmons star parties. It is my understanding, in cooperation with the U, an observatory might well be built, at TTIP, from which we could host a monthly star party, perhaps. Erik Ann, decades ago in my youth, my friends and I flew our radio-controlled
sailplanes from those very same hills because the wind blew almost all the time. I grew up in the UofU neighborhood and spent a lot of time in the hills east of SLC.
That said, any star-party with a direct view of city lights must be taken for what it is- public outreach. It's not an ideal site by any means, but if you can't bring the public to the star party, you bring the star-party to the public. This is one of the trade-offs.
My wife and I stopped-by the Harmons star-party on Friday night briefly, but as we were both not 100% physically, we didn't stick around. Attendance there was remarkably high, both general public and SLAS members. You couldn't turn around without almost bumping into a telescope.
It's been a long, cold winter! People are glad to get out again, even at mediocre venues.
On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 8:31 AM, Ann Blanchard <a.blanchard@ugs.utah.edu> wrote:
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought.
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Hi Ann, The more I think about it the more I think I'm with you on this one. Our resident meteorologist tells me the winds are normal being the site is at the base of a canyon (FWIW he says the winds blow up the canyon during the day). It was too cold for me. And the dearth of public surprised me. But things should warm up as the season progresses and hopefully the word will get out and the public will come. I was a bit surprised by the light pollution. I knew there would be some but (perhaps naively) hoped it would be less. It just seems kind of odd that we'd have a Harmons star party followed by TITP. Perhaps future season can have Harmons and TITP alternate on Fridays followed by SPOC on Saturday. I could see the place being used for Sun parties. The view was incredible and the guy from the park says a typical Saturday during the summer has about 7,000 people visiting the park. Still, like Erik posted, this year is just a test for TITP and folks need to let the SLAS board know how they feel. Clear skies! patrick On 14 Apr 2008, at 08:31, Ann Blanchard wrote:
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought.
I understand a Solar Observatory is a possibility. Anyway, I think Bob is wise to keep SLAS in the loop with what is developing at TITP.
Hi Ann,
The more I think about it the more I think I'm with you on this one.
Our resident meteorologist tells me the winds are normal being the site is at the base of a canyon (FWIW he says the winds blow up the canyon during the day). It was too cold for me. And the dearth of public surprised me. But things should warm up as the season progresses and hopefully the word will get out and the public will come.
I was a bit surprised by the light pollution. I knew there would be some but (perhaps naively) hoped it would be less. It just seems kind of odd that we'd have a Harmons star party followed by TITP. Perhaps future season can have Harmons and TITP alternate on Fridays followed by SPOC on Saturday.
I could see the place being used for Sun parties. The view was incredible and the guy from the park says a typical Saturday during the summer has about 7,000 people visiting the park.
Still, like Erik posted, this year is just a test for TITP and folks need to let the SLAS board know how they feel.
Clear skies!
patrick
On 14 Apr 2008, at 08:31, Ann Blanchard wrote:
I wondered what impressions any of you had of star gazing from This is the Place? Craig and I went out Saturday and there was a large turn out of folks with scopes. There is a broad view to the west and they let us drive our cars right up to where we were viewing so we didn't have to haul things. I have to say first that I am a wimp about cold, so my view may not fit with others, but the wind blew all the time, and by 10:00 the two flags they had were waving at full tilt with the metal banging desperately into the polls. I was freezing, nose running constantly and my eyes watered from the wind so much I could hardly look through the scopes. I remembered that we had tried viewing once from Research Park and the wind in July made it uncomfortable, so I asked the very friendly volunteer from This is the Place if it was always windy like this and he cheerfully replied that it was. I had fun with the people there, but I really have no desire to go back again. Just curious what others thought.
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Erik, we'll see if you're still of that same opinion when we have to wear period costumes to TITP star parties. Ann, get that "Little House on the Prairie" dress ready. Everyone, achromatic, doublet refractors only. Brass mounts preferred. ;o) On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 5:39 PM, <erikhansen@thebluezone.net> wrote:
I understand a Solar Observatory is a possibility. Anyway, I think Bob is wise to keep SLAS in the loop with what is developing at TITP.
participants (6)
-
Ann Blanchard -
Chuck Hards -
daniel turner -
erikhansen＠TheBlueZone.net -
Patrick Wiggins -
Richard Tenney