Hi All, We set up in a parking area at Riverbend well away from any sprinklers, we would want to take sprinklers into consideration. We did try Wheeler Farm over 10 years ago, they were happy to have us, but it had problems. As I recall, the practical place for a Star Party had lights and the place away from lights had no vehicle access. At least they did want to give us access, they may have safety and or liability concerns. We would want to check it out carefully before committing there again, at least in my opinion. They did not understand the issues we had. Liberty Park has to many tress, Sugar House Park closes gates early. Little Mountain we no longer have access to upper parking area, lower parking area not big enough. The water shed manager does not really want us up their. Non-board members sometimes got a key to the gate by posing as board member. The water shed manager was not happy about multiple keys being issued. They would change or add locks without notice, this was when the site was dropped. Dan's suggestion about Fairmont Park or a School is interesting. We need more ideas along those lines. My suggestion would be is that all club members look for one place nearby their residence, surely with all the parks, golf course etc., we should be able to come up with 4 or 5 that could be researched and considered. The Jordan River Parkway has many parking areas with limited lighting. Erik --- BMoore@commercecrg.com wrote: From: "Bob Moore" <BMoore@commercecrg.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:54:37 -0600 the big problem with golf courses is they water all night ________________________________ From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com on behalf of daniel turner Sent: Mon 9/8/2008 6:41 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night Golf courses would be a natural good places. They are not in use at night so they tend to not be lighted. We just need one that understands our needs and is willing to allow access after hours. Sometimes that becomes a staffing overtime issue, it was at TITP. But if we can earn some trust maybe we can spend the night. Oh, and at the risk of reopening a very old wound: Little mountain continues to be used by individuals and very small groups for events on the eastern horizon. It's still a good place to try for. DT --- On Mon, 9/8/08, zaurak@digis.net <zaurak@digis.net> wrote:
From: zaurak@digis.net <zaurak@digis.net> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Monday, September 8, 2008, 5:29 PM My thought was that perhaps there is a Golf Course parking lot. We held one at Riverbend a few years ago and it worked out well.
Erik
--- BMoore@commercecrg.com wrote:
From: "Bob Moore" <BMoore@commercecrg.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 13:19:55 -0600
I am interested to know if anyone has any ideas for a location for public star parties for slas to host at a location within the salt lake valley.
I am getting an overwhelming response from slas members that they want
Public Star parties at SPOC 1-2 per month Public Star Parties at Harmons 1 per month Public Sun Party 1 per month
Public Star Party at a location in the SL valley with a dark sky (ie not in a parking lot with lights on)
You can respond to this or email me directly at bmoore@commercecrg.com
Bob moore
Bob Moore Commerce CRG - Salt Lake City office 175 East 400 South, Suite 700 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Direct: 801-303-5418 Main: 801-322-2000 Fax: 801-322-2040 BMoore@commercecrg.com www.commercecrg.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of zaurak@digis.net Sent: Friday, September 05, 2008 9:34 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night
Rob,
I do not think we are going to scale back, we just want to find a balance. SPOC Star Parties require a lot of work behind the scenes, Bill, Mark, Patrick, and Bruce (to name a few) have put forth great efforts, their time constraints need to be considered. You make a good point that National Park parties don't suffer and Dan also makes the point that SLAS does not need to organize all star parties. Group camp outs began by people deciding to do it, Natural Bridges is a nice park for small numbers. That seems the appeal, small numbers. Non public events are most enjoyable to me, circumstances preclude me from most new moon venues. My point about costs is that, we don't seem to suffer from growing fuel costs (yet), I wonder how long this will continue. I think it is something that we should begin to watch, I think it probably will effect the "special" star parties first . I does effect where I will drive and I think it is a good idea to have SLAS venues within distance of TRAX lines. What if anything we can do about is a hard question, but getting people talking about it might lead to some answers. People have left because their expectations of what the club should do or not do. We try to accommodate what significant number of people want, projects have died because of lose of interest. I belong to SLAS and the AstroLeague to promote the hobby of astronomy not for what I can get out of it, although I have gotten much from being a member.
Erik --- robtaylor3661@comcast.net wrote:
From: "Robert Taylor" <robtaylor3661@comcast.net> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 17:26:51 -0600
Eric: I don't think there is a problem either. Plenty of non-club star gazing going on. I'm sorry that some of our points are delayed and overlapping, I only get the library version of the board posts not the individual postings. My choice for the last few years has to support activities and not be on the board or an officer, again due to professional commitments. I've noticed the drop in participation at that level and while we are still getting good people to serve on the board it would be nice to see more people in the process. I think we both came to the same conclusion (you probably long before me) about what types of star parties suffer from low participation, the next question is there anything that can be done about it?
+++++++
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 08:13:55 -0700
From: <zaurak@digis.net>
Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night
To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com>
Message-ID: <20080904081355.256C49CD@resin18.mta.everyone.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
I do not believe there is a problem, you can Star Gaze where and when you want. As an Astronomy Club it is bad when we advertise an event and no one or only a few show up. Willingness to participate is a factor, fortunately we have enough to support a robust schedule. We have had angry public when an event is scheduled and no one shows up. Rodger Fry has done an outstanding job with Special Star Parties and has accommodated most request.
I hope next years board has someone as enthusiastic.
Willingness to participate does seem to becoming a problem. We used to have a lot of people running for the SLAS Board with several people running for every office. Now we struggle to get one per office.
SLAS members have a long history of National Park Star Parties., I see no reason why this can't continue. I even ran into John Dobson near Capital Reef in his RV asking for directions. Yes ladies, men do ask for directions.
All I am saying is that SLAS has to be careful about having support for an event before scheduling. Members input is welcome, when deciding the schedule. I remember one year when I did 1-2 per week, most went well, but some I was the only person and I would end up with lines of 500 people. We would look at one thing for 3 hours, it was not enjoyable for anyone.
Erik
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Erik: Little Mountain is still being used for hit and run astronomy events. Even in just the lower parking lot you will meet people during non telescope events like lunar eclipses and meteor showers. It's great for when events fall on a school or work night and you only have time for a quick peek with hand held binoculars. I ran into club members there for comet Hyakutake, a Leonid shower, and a lunar eclipse. Strangely I didn't see any one when comet Holmes was visable to the unaided eye. It's always worth a try when a bright comet is in the eastern sky just before dawn. DT --- On Tue, 9/9/08, zaurak@digis.net <zaurak@digis.net> wrote:
From: zaurak@digis.net <zaurak@digis.net> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Natural Bridges Saturday Night To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 8:30 AM Hi All,
Little Mountain we no longer have access to upper parking area, lower parking area not big enough. The water shed manager does not really want us up their. Non-board members sometimes got a key to the gate by posing as board member. The water shed manager was not happy about multiple keys being issued. They would change or add locks without notice, this was when the site was dropped.
Erik
participants (2)
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daniel turner -
zaurak＠digis.net