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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Oz Park Nature Oasis Astronomy Session

26 27 July 2012

The next scheduled joint astronomy session for the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Astronomer is for Thursday, the 26th - Friday, the 27th of July at Oz Park...

The Park Supervisor feels the best locations would be either by the tennis courts or in the space just south of the ball fields. I think the option 2 would be the best. Better sight angles and a wider space.

But...

The weather is not looking good for a Thursday night session. The forecast is calling for clouds and possible rain. We will keep a watch on this and make a call Thursday afternoon for a Go/No Go decision.

If a go, we will set up by 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm - and have a great Moon and planetary conjunction to enjoy and share with or visitors for that evening.

Stay tuned.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

UPDATE:


Due to weather concerns, the Chicago Park District and The Chicago Astronomer joint session has re-scheduled for tomorrow evening, (Friday - 27 July), at Oz Park.

The large weather mass over our heads presently will slide away by tomorrow, bringing in cool and clear skies.

We will set-up by 8:00 pm and continue till 10:00 pm and perhaps even later.

Stop by and share the skies with the Chicago Astronomers...you know you want to.

[Paulie pchris00]

That's a bummer. I had last night off for the star party. Work and family commitments tonight will keep me in Indiana.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

We are a go for tonight's session.

Still rather cloudy now, but forecast is calling for clearing skies.

We are there regardless.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A Crisp breezy night at Oz Park

Chicago Astronomer Bill arrived on-site as I pulled up and surveyed the area. with no street parking available, I gave the go to drive into the park and unload from the path that runs along the hill. We decided to set-up on top of that hill - providing better views of the ecliptic path.

With me was Chicago Astronomer support crew member Maria and we met Park District representative Amy, who assisted in bringing in the curious....

The day was a iffy one, with cloud cover most of the day, but my resident meteorologist, Erin, gave the go for clearing skies by the time we were to arrive. The night felt like a early fall session. Deep skies, puffy clouds and a refreshing breeze was most welcomed as we set-up our gear. The Moon was our early target and I popped in a 40mm 2" eyepiece with variable polarizer - bringing out the low lands nicely...

As always is the case, as soon as people see telescopes, they approach and ask if anything special was happening this evening. We announce that this is a joint activity of the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Astronomer - traveling around the city and sharing the skies with our park visitors. All think that this is quite cool and ask for a card...

Long time Chicago Astronomer fan and friend Jerry joined us for this evening's session - back from a stay in Virginia...

The location on top of the hill was a nice one. Trees not immediately in the way and accessible to the public. Saturn made it's first viewings of the evening - making a nice triangle with mars and Spica. We slew back and forth between the ringed planet and the lunar surface...

We had a visitor stop by and was fascinated with what she was looking at through our scopes. She went home and got her 94 year old Dad...and he had a blast...(above).

We also had a couple of great inquisitive and enthusiastic kids join us this evening. Using the laser and tablet to point out celestial artifacts to answer their questions...

And we continue to attend to our visitors...

As the skies were not totally clear, the puffy clouds kept me from targeting other objects, but Bill got the "Coat Hanger" asterism for our eager guests. I rather zoomed into the crater Copernicus, to the delight of the observers. The tablet came in handy to demonstrate the intricate details of the crater and surrounding areas. We discussed astronomy, celestial mechanics, constellations, binaries and planetary curiosities throughout the session...

Bill double-barlowed on the Moon....!

The clouds this evening were beautiful this evening. A high pressure cold front always brings this type of clouds, puffy, fast moving and nicely illuminated from all angles. (The clouds reminded me of Adler's glory days with the old Zeiss projector - when the projectionist would have soft clouds slowly orbit the dome before the show would start.)

Friends & fans stop by to say hi and share the company...

It was now after 10:00 pm and time to break down our observation site...

We had a total of 44 visitors enjoy themselves, many who went back home to get kids, neighbors, wives etc... Some would follow the Chicago Astronomer via on-line networks and emails for future public observations.

A last group shot of the session:

Onward to our next Park District/Chicago Astronomer session at Northerly Island in August!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Here are some more pics that just came in of our nice session at Oz park....

A solid night of Lunar and Saturnian observations with our park visitors...