The annual BASS/LAS/URSA Mini-Conference/Star Party holiday weekend up at the CU MRS was unseasonably warm for this high altitude facility. At over 9,000 ft, we were expecting bitter cold evenings for observing, but instead, it was light jacket weather! We had 3 fantastic nights for observing with Sunday being the darkest night or the three.
Friday opened up the event with 17 overnight guests plus 6 visiting guests for the first star party. Before the star party got rolling, we enjoyed a beautiful feast of potluck, with a welcome from Alan Kiplinger, research scientist from CIPS and a presentation about the latest research on Mars from CU Research scientist Brian Hynek. Alan gave a brief history of how the Alpine Observatory came to be built at CU MRS and Brian afforded us a report on the latest research known about Mars and his personal research with the two rovers, still active, Spirit and Opportunity. The presentation was wonderful and we hope to see more of Brian and his research in the future.
At the observatory there were 9 telescopes in use including the Alpine Observatory 12'' Meade, SCT. There was an interesting twilight in the skies on Friday night. It was near New Moon, but was not exactly dark. The Milky Way was in half fullness for Friday, and many deep space objects were viewed. Friday was our biggest night for spotting satellites. Although bears had been spotted in the vicinity, we had no problems with bears for this event. Alan Kiplinger kept a Bull Horn in the dome for observers, especially those that were walking between buildings.
The new path from the dormitory to the observatory is very well done. We had a short walk to get to the observing site. We also were allowed to park more cars near the dome this time due to the fire exits now in place with the new road. Most observers kept their equipment in their vehicles or in the dome when not in use. We had 5 guests from a CU astronomy class join us for observing. They had a great time. The clouds came in around midnight, and some of us closed up. Then around 1am, the skies were clear again, and folks observed until after 3am.
A lot of folks took advantage of the dark skies (in twilight) to practice their Naked-Eye Astronomy. The Blinking Eye of Medusa, was pointed out, showing Perseus holding up her head and the star that is her eye, fads out every 3rd day? Or something to that rate. The Veil Nebula looked especially nice this night.
Saturday appeared to be our fullest night, with all 8 rooms in the dorm filled plus a cabin rented. The pot luck was incredible and folks really relished the feast. We had two BASS members stop by and check out the facility, but could not stay for the observing. Andrew Planck gave a short presentation on the Australian aborigine creation myth. It involved the didgeridoo and was quite well received. Then Josh Walawender, CU graduate student, gave a slide show on the observatories and telescopes that he has done research with. Very well done. As the clouds had settled at this point, we improvised by the talent of three high school girls (Tess Adams, Miko Luckow, and Kerry Manley) that sang Irish tunes for us. We also were delighted by a 'rap' by Theo Sully and Brian Nishakawa. Jim Cysper read a poem written by Ray Bradbury, and the title escapes me, but it was very appropriate for a star party, and Andrew again entertained us with his musical spoons! There was some discussion that DVDs were on site and that we could watch some until the clouds clear, however, after a vote to who would like to watch The Princess Bride or season one of Gilligan's Island, everyone sort of vanished to take a quick nap before the viewing began. Observing began at 11:30pm and carried forth until after 3am. We had 9 scopes in use and had great views of Neptune, Uranus, and Mars. Again, an almost eerie twilight evening. Some faint light pollution off of Boulder in the East, but still very dark. Hard to explain. One thing that I remember is that Mike and Marc were observing the same object and realized that it was called two different names. The Double Cluster is so brilliant and its two main names are; NGC-884 & 889 and Caldwell 14. This is a double cluster and can be seen with the naked eye.
Sunday brought forth some scattered showers in the afternoon, but it was still very warm up there! The potluck was again AMAZING! So much food and very good food to boot. Jambalaya, chili, hamburgers, hot-dogs, salads, pie, cinnamon rolls, chips & dips, lasagna, and more. Right after dinner we went outside to see if we could catch an iridium flare, and sure enough, we counted it down and saw it very clear in the daylight! What fun! We were all set to wait out another wave of clouds, so we watched Philippe's copy of Burt Ratan and Space Ship One. To our surprise, the skies cleared up. After we were all set to start observing, the clouds moved in. Steve Hartung had arrived on Sunday and gave us a report that we would have clouds, but that by midnight it should clear up. Sure enough, we had clear skies, the darkest night of the three, and some folks stayed up till dawn observing and imaging. It was a fantastic night. The twilight was gone and the light pollution from Boulder looked as if it was all but gone. We saw the Blue Snow Ball, Veil Nebula, The Blinking Planetary, Mars, Neptune, just to name a few. It was wonderful. We had two guests that could not stay for the observing, but BASS members that came to check out the facility. It was great to give them a tour.
Thank you to all that supported and participated in this event. Everyone that I talked to was very happy with the weather and the observing. A big thank you to Vern Raben and others that helped with clean up Monday morning. We were out of there by noon.
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