Staunton River Star Party – Day 1

Last week, we drove to Staunton River State Park for the fall star party – getting their by midafternoon. We selected a place on the field and set up for the week. It was breezy so setting up the tent was more challenging that we anticipated. The rain fly seemed ready to take off but was very stable by the time we got all the stakes and guy wires into the ground. The tent is made to attach to the back of the car (i.e. an extra flap on one side to ‘seal the opening’) which we used to attach to the roof rack of the car instead making a shady place between the tent and the car. Last year it was hot enough that we needed shade in the afternoon; this year, the only day we needed it was the very first day. Other days we needed the warmth of the sun! My husband got his gear set up and was pleased to discover that there was cell coverage on the field. The air mattresses and sleeping bags left plenty of room for other gear and even a chair inside the tent. I discovered that having a chair inside the tent on the cold sunny mornings was wonderful – 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside temperature.

We walked down to the Deep Space Diner to purchase a Black Hole Cup (endless tea and lemonade for me….most people were using it more for the coffee). There was a pumpkin by the door of the Diner that was appropriately carved for the event!

More about the star party tomorrow!

Packing for the Staunton River Star Party

Last week we drove down the Staunton River State Park in southern Virginia for the fall Star Party. We went last year but only stayed two days (blog post from last fall here). This time we made sure we remembered the tent! The picture I’m including with this post was while we were packing. By the time we were finished we had almost every nook and cranny in the back of the car packed with gear.

We were taking enough food so we would only ‘buy’ one meal per day at the 6-day event. My staples were salad stuff and mixed nuts; my husband had makings for sandwiches and cashews. I made zucchini bread to eat as part of our breakfast…and there were chips (a treat since a don’t normally buy them).

The telescope and associated equipment take up a fair amount of space as well. My husband ended up not taking the solar telescope to save some space for other necessities. Stay tune for more about our 2016 adventure at the Staunton River Star Party later this week.

Mercury Transit

Mercury past in front of the sun on Monday morning this week. My husband set his camera on a tripod with a solar filter in our driveway and got one reasonable picture before the haze became thick clouds over the whole of central Maryland where we live. The small dot to the bottom of the disk is Mercury; the upper one is a sunspot.

My daughter had better luck in Tucson. The transit was already underway before the sun came up but it was a clear, sunny day. The transit lasted until about 11:30 AM local time. She had organized an event on the mall at the University of Arizona – complete with solar telescopes and a scale model of the solar system. When I talked to her later in the day she said they had several 100 people stop by to take a look through the telescopes and understand what was happening….and how it relates to the way exoplanets are discovered! She spent 2+ hours in the sun talking to people – sharing sunscreen with the other volunteers.