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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

1st Chicago Astronomer Star Party
of the Regular 2014 Observational Season

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Alright kids...our first Chicago Astronomer Public Star Party is scheduled for Sunday evening, the 30th of March 2014 at our primary observation spot, just west of the Adler Planetarium building, (See above).

The extended weather forecast shows that the temps will be in the high 50's and the skies mostly clear....crisp temps mean ideal scope conditions.  Hopefully the weather will be good, and if so, we will highlight Jupiter and early spring targets.

We will set-up scopes by 7:00 pm and share the urban skies with our friends and fans till around 10:00 pm

Dust off your telescopic equipment, as all are invited to participate in this start of the regular public observation season of the Chicago Astronomer crew.

Stay tuned for updates and confirmations.

Astro Joe

[Paulie pchris00]

I'm going to try to be there, if I'm recovered from the Messier Marathon in time.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Excellent Paulie...

Your Dob is a vital part of the Chicago Astronomer experience, especially for our visitors who may have difficulty reaching up to higher telescopes.

Hope to see you there...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

UPDATE:

Our Chicago Astronomer Star Party is a solid go for tonight.

Absolute clear skies, although the temps are a bit chillier than forecasted...but all is good.

The C11 is ready and we expect many of our fans and friends to stop by and say hi for this first public session of the Chicago Astronomer crew of 2014.

Be there!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A great time at our 1st Chicago Astronomer Star Party of the year.....




Star parties at any location are difficult to plan way ahead of time, due to weather.

But weather forecasters were certain that this evening would be good for setting up scopes...and they were almost 100% right.  Starting out at 7pm, we already had Jason on-site, with his newly acquired C8, anxious to put it through it's initial shake out..



After some cleaning and preliminary collimations, the scope performed well and will be a welcomed addition to the Chicago Astronomer crew's sessions.  

We use the Sears tower to align our finders....

Joining in on this session were Chicago Astronomer John and new participants, Carlos with with Stellarvue refractor and Bran with with Galileo table top scope...bringing us to 3 SCTs and two refractors for this gathering of stars, planets and instruments.

The temps were chilly and the skies clear, but hazy.  It still provided decent enough conditions for impressive images of Jupiter, the Orion nebula, binaries and other early spring targets.  Set up telescopes and the crowds gather...

Jason's pal Joe was on hand to document this event, (and possible future events)....



We look forward to his shots when he sends them in soon.

It was nice for this gathering of Astronomers after such a long and harsh winter...




Jason was still tweaking as we all started to slew to Jupiter, for some pretty nice views....including a double occultation of jovian satellites...

Lines start to form as usual and we share views with our fans...

The C11 was performing well, but needs some tweaking itself in collimation, even as the images were good, but could be better.  We chat with friends who stopped by to join in on the activity, discussing all things astronomical and related...

Fellow Adler Telescope facilitator Fred joined us and brought his new 15x70s Binos for views of the Seven Sisters open star cluster.






The tablets have been a great educational tool in demonstrating to our visitors celestial & Orbital mechanics.  Here, we are discussing the Jovian satellites.







Near the end of our session, at 10pm...I share with my fellow Astronomers the new Duncan collimation mask that Chicago Astronomer Rick crafted for me.  The crew appreciated the telltale visual cues of the three converging lines when an instrument is on it's way to proper collimation.  (More on this at a later date when I can conduct a proper collimation session.)


This was a fun time with fans and friends, coming out on a chilly early spring evening,  to share urban skies with the Chicago Astronomer on our first public star party of the 2014 observational season.  Many more to come....




Stay tuned for our next open session, but for those in the Chicago area....semd me your email and I'll include you the Chicago Astronomer Email Notification list, (Events, activities, lectures etc....), then you'll be in the know with the cool kids.....