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[stargazer]

Greetings Fellow Chicago Astronomers,

I have returned from Astrofest. It was fun. Alot of walking and of course alot of scopes there to look through. We had everything from a Solar Scope to a 30". The Yard Scope (36") was there but he didnt set it up as we were dealing with the clouds from Ivan on Thurs night a storm front on Fri and Sat. We did get in some good obsering on Fri night from about 11:00 pm till 3:00 am when we finally couldnt stay awake any more. I have a list in the puter of what we saw. I will post the list along with the pics once I get them in the puter and pull the list from here. I hope you all got a chance to view this past weekend. I know it will take about a week to recoup. But I get to do it all over again Feb. This time we are going to the Keys. We are going to attend the Winter Star Party. Of course we will video and take more pics. I think they said there was 860 people at Astrofest this year and almost 900 scopes.

I will post the pics and list soon.

Becky

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Quite cool your time at astrofest. I have not been to one, but with all the various scopes in use there, I would be like a hummingbird going from scope to scope.

Give us some more detail of your experience and observations...draw the picture for us all...the good and the bad. I have read reports regarding both.

I anticipate the pics of the event.

Don't forget about the Chicago Astronomer Star Party by Al's in October.

[stargazer]

Ok Joe,

Here are the pics and story from Astrofest.

The place was pretty big. Almost a 20 acre farm but most of that was a corn field. The potty's were so misplaced it wasnt funny. I think the closest one to us was about 1/4 mile away. The electric field was all the way in front near the road so we heard the cars all night but that wasnt to bad. We had the only scope in that field. So it was quiet for us. The field was long so they had a tractor and trailor taking people to and from the field. It seemed like I walked 100 miles all weekend just to go see our friends and see all the scopes. Ok now heres the pics.




Home sweet home for the weekend. ( It was very windy on this day. The winds from Ivan got us. )






The Backyard Observatory






Adler Planetarium Observatory



[cener][/center]


Looking down the field




30" scope from Argus

Sorry they are so big. Bill put them in this way so I could get them in here today.

Overall I had a good time. We were able to see Andromeda, Pleides, Orion, M13, M92, A large Starffield, M96, M94, Thats all Ican think of nowwithout being able to get into the log file where everythinng is sitting

Becky

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Those huge scopes are making me salivate!

It looked like a hell of a good time there. One day, (night), I'll attend one. It looks a lot bigger than I imagined and a sea of tents.

Now, I can appreciate any set up from the elaborate and the complex, to the simple point and look scopes and all in between, but I have an observation. Why are some the the amateurs practically tearing down their observatories and re-assembling them at astrofest? Couldn't they get the same satisfaction from just setting up their scopes. Now...I don't want to sound like a prude, (I wish I had one), but it seems like a lot of overkill. A simple setup like yours Becky, I think is the way to go. But that Argus Road show looks mighty interesting!

But regardless, a great assortment of scopes to see. What was your favorite there? How were the sky conditions...deep and clear? Tell us about your observation sessions.

Quite a cool time you had there.