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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

First Chicago Astronomer Star Party of June

03 June 2013

A soggy week will give away to a high pressure system and Monday, the 3rd of June 2013 looks like a good evening for some scope time. I will set-up the C11 beast at 8pm at the usual Chicago Astronomer Observation site...around the Adler Planetarium area....can't miss us.

No Moon to enjoy, but we will have Saturn of course and is always a treat to share...and maybe - even Mercury if we are lucky.

Also...

Friend Rob, (who is here for a short bit from a flying gig the Middle East will join in and bring his cool Takashi Refractor.

It will be chilly, so dress warmly and enjoy some urban skies with the Chicago Astronomers.

Be there... ;D

[patrickm]

One of my bands, Speck Mountain, is playing at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and then we have tickets to Calexico, so a night of awesome music will keep me from joining. Have fun.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Thats ok Patrick.

There will be plenty of other C.A. events...including 3 Northerly Island Movie nights and a Forrest Preserve event.

But more on those in a bit....

[dayzedankonfused]

I'll try and make it out there tomorrow Joe with my trusty 8V LOL

[barbarai]

Sorry Joe, I have put all my warm clothes away and I absolutely refuse to pull them out...at least until October!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I understand Barbara....it will be a chilly night out.

We will have plenty of warm sessions soon!

[dayzedankonfused]

Thanks again Joe for taking the time out of your evening to host these sessions. I have had an enjoyable time at every one and meet some of the nicest people. Enjoy the rest of your week.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A fun night with fans, friends and planets...

The night before promised clear skies...and it delivered. With fellow Astronomers, Jason, Paulie and Rob, we shared great views with our visitors and Chicago Astronomer fans. Temps were on the cool side, but I went without jacket and was quite comfortable due to my hot Latin blood...

C.A. Jason brought along his trusty Mak, C.A. Paulie his Dob and C.A. Rob with Takahashi. Me, of course, set-up the C11 Beast ready for the Venus and Mercury conjunction setting at dusk...

8 Ball says it's a go...!

As it always is, set-up scopes and the people will come. Before we were ready to attend to our visitors, we had a small crowd ready for some urban star gazing...

Mercury is higher than Vennus now and Venus made for a good pointer to little overlooked Mercury...

Venus, showing a not-quite-full-disk...

Same with Mercury.

The deep reddish tint was more due to atmospheric attributes than actual albedo.

Venus was quickly slipping behind the skyline, and I tried to catch the final moment before occultation, but wasn't quick enough. Damn...

With the western show over, we slew over to the south and target Saturn, which was really putting on a good showing this session, with atmospheric conditions very good and steady. Even in the smallest scopes, Saturn displays her ring system nicely...

In the C102mm Refractor finder scope, Saturn was razor sharp, displaying the Cassini division, Titan and Rhea. In the C11, the banding, more Saturnian satellites and subtle ring structure more apparent...

All who view the ringed planet smile and creates a memorable moment. Many discussion on the mechanics of the Saturnian system...and with the help of my tablets, made demonstrations much more efficient...

And with four scopes, no waiting to catch Saturn and other celestial targets....

Rob was using his iPAd to slew his scope to various targets throughout the session...

I was doing some binary splittin' with the ole Mizar/Alcor vision test with our visitors. With the Big Dipper riding high near zenith now, it was not an easy maneuver...

We go on, sharing views and chatting about astronomy....

Before every session, I check to see if the ISS/Iridium will do a pass-by...and I jotted down the info, but forgot to set my phone for an alarm...so it was well underway... until Paulie spotted it in the south...

At only 20 degrees high, it was not a major pass, but cool never the less. (Paulie also spotted an Iridium flare while we were breaking down our equipment - pretty bright too!)

By the end of the session, dew covered our gear and a good thing that I installed the Dew Shield at the start...as I did expect dew problems. (A reason we don't set-up on grassy areas often if we can help it.) We pushed it till the very last moment, leaving well after 11:00 pm, satisfied with a fun session with good observing conditions and made a lot of new Chicago Astronomer fans who will be back and join us again.

A big thanks to our Astronomer crew for this session! We attended to 46 visitors and had a great time.

Onward to our next session...stay tuned!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Here are a couple of very nice emails I received this day regarding our star party of last night:

Hi, Joe:

Thanks again for sharing so much with my partner and I - and our two friends visiting from Mexico last night. Roberto and Adam don't speak much English but - it doesn't much matter. What you share with others through your telescope leaves one speechless anyway.

Please do add me to your mailing list as I would love to attend your next public viewing of the heavens.

The telescope, the stars and your comprehensive knowledge (which you know how to share in a way so as to be understood by the lay person) all made for a night that will not be forgotten in a long, long time. Light years, maybe!

; )

Thank you

Paul


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Hi Joe!

Thank you for letting us look through your telescope. I never saw Saturn before and it looked fake, like a sticker! I even saw Titan and a couple of other moons you pointed out to me.

We had a lot of fun and hope to join you again.

Oh, and remember my name means sky.

-Visala