Ohio Star Party/Outreach

[Mike Q]

Ok we all know that Ohio is one of the cloudiest States in the US but we have to come up with a time and place to have a real Star Party. Anybody have any ideas? Feel free to put your thoughts down here and feel free to add any outreach programs going on in your area

[Mike Q]

Warren Rupp Observatory in Belleville Ohio has out reach the first Saturdays of the month.

The Crawford Park District Lowe Volk Park near Galion and Crestline has outreach every 4th and 5th Saturdays of the month

[OhioGoodyear55]

There is a dark spot area north of Middlefield ohio too

[Mike Q]

Ohio needs to do a star party. Sure we arent known for great skies but we could at least make an attempt at it.

[Mike Q]

Oh come on gang. There has to be more people from Ohio here then just me who want to try to put together at least a small party somewhere?

[helicon]

Oh come on gang. There has to be more people from Ohio here then just me who want to try to put together at least a small party somewhere?

Probably....The Reflector, the Astronomical League's Quarterly Magazine, not the website, mentions some clubs in Ohio as I recall. I get the Magazine because I am a member of WACO (Whatcom Association of Celestial Observers) here in Washington state. Maybe you can subscribe to the publication through the A.L?

https://www.astroleague.org/december-20 ... -magazine/

[Mike Q]

Oh come on gang. There has to be more people from Ohio here then just me who want to try to put together at least a small party somewhere?

Probably....The Reflector, the Astronomical League's Quarterly Magazine, not the website, mentions some clubs in Ohio as I recall. I get the Magazine because I am a member of WACO (Whatcom Association of Celestial Observers) here in Washington state. Maybe you can subscribe to the publication through the A.L?

https://www.astroleague.org/december-20 ... -magazine/

I will check it out. The only star party i know if is at the Warren Rupp Observatory at the Hidden Hollow Campground. It would be a great place if the light pollution from Mansfield wasnt so bad

[09blstrek]

What about Observatory Park in Montvale?

I've never been there, I'm sort of new to Ohio. (Born and raised here but recently returned from a 37 year absence.)

Anyhow, I belonged to a great, very active club in Virginia and find the pessimistic attitude here disheartening. My local club doesn't even bother scheduling anything but monthly meetings and Christmas parties.

[09blstrek]

Warren Rupp Observatory in Belleville Ohio has out reach the first Saturdays of the month.

The Crawford Park District Lowe Volk Park near Galion and Crestline has outreach every 4th and 5th Saturdays of the month

That sounds interesting.

[09blstrek]

Oh come on gang. There has to be more people from Ohio here then just me who want to try to put together at least a small party somewhere?

I'm here.

And yes, the lack of interest, even from astronomy club members is depressing.

[Mike Q]

It would be nice if we could get a dozen or so folks interested in trying to put something together. Finding a good dark spot would be the challenge

[AstroBee]

It would be nice if we could get a dozen or so folks interested in trying to put something together. Finding a good dark spot would be the challenge

An absolutely dark location is not absolutely necessary to have a really nice star party. In fact, getting to a dark site is going to be very off-putting for some of the general public.
Our local club, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, does monthly public star parties every month except for December. We have anywhere between 200 and 1000 people show up, depending on the weather and location.
Some of our locations, Red Rock National Conservation Area - https://bit.ly/3TEIpAd, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park - https://bit.ly/3RQ9P3I, Lake Mead - https://bit.ly/48zTBCk, and even Sky Canyon which is right on the edge of the Vegas valley - https://bit.ly/3S2Q7Tp.
Our parties are usually scheduled for the first Saturday AFTER a new moon. That way we generally have a crescent moon we can share with the public. Then, if there are any planets visible, followed by the very brightest nebulae like M42 or galaxies like M31, and of course any good globular or open star clusters.
My point is, there's plenty you can do if you are not just interested in tracking down NGC and PGC galaxies!

[Mike Q]

It would be nice if we could get a dozen or so folks interested in trying to put something together. Finding a good dark spot would be the challenge

An absolutely dark location is not absolutely necessary to have a really nice star party. In fact, getting to a dark site is going to be very off-putting for some of the general public.
Our local club, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, does monthly public star parties every month except for December. We have anywhere between 200 and 1000 people show up, depending on the weather and location.
Some of our locations, Red Rock National Conservation Area - https://bit.ly/3TEIpAd, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park - https://bit.ly/3RQ9P3I, Lake Mead - https://bit.ly/48zTBCk, and even Sky Canyon which is right on the edge of the Vegas valley - https://bit.ly/3S2Q7Tp.
Our parties are usually scheduled for the first Saturday AFTER a new moon. That way we generally have a crescent moon we can share with the public. Then, if there are any planets visible, followed by the very brightest nebulae like M42 or galaxies like M31, and of course any good globular or open star clusters.
My point is, there's plenty you can do if you are not just interested in tracking down NGC and PGC galaxies!

Here in Ohio we dont really have great skies. Bortle 4 is about it. So if we can find darker place, that would be a big plus even if it is just going for the easier to see to see stuff.

[AstroBee]

Every place I mentioned is a Bortle 7+ location except maybe Lake Mead is Bortle 6. Sky Canyon is Bortle 9.
My point is that sky darkness should not be a hindrance to having a great public star party. Heck, we even do one in January at the Neon Museum https://bit.ly/3S0iNN0 which is on the Las Vegas Strip, Bortle 1,000,000!

[09blstrek]

It would be nice if we could get a dozen or so folks interested in trying to put something together. Finding a good dark spot would be the challenge

An absolutely dark location is not absolutely necessary to have a really nice star party. In fact, getting to a dark site is going to be very off-putting for some of the general public.
Our local club, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, does monthly public star parties every month except for December. We have anywhere between 200 and 1000 people show up, depending on the weather and location.
Some of our locations, Red Rock National Conservation Area - https://bit.ly/3TEIpAd, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park - https://bit.ly/3RQ9P3I, Lake Mead - https://bit.ly/48zTBCk, and even Sky Canyon which is right on the edge of the Vegas valley - https://bit.ly/3S2Q7Tp.
Our parties are usually scheduled for the first Saturday AFTER a new moon. That way we generally have a crescent moon we can share with the public. Then, if there are any planets visible, followed by the very brightest nebulae like M42 or galaxies like M31, and of course any good globular or open star clusters.
My point is, there's plenty you can do if you are not just interested in tracking down NGC and PGC galaxies!

Here in Ohio we dont really have great skies. Bortle 4 is about it. So if we can find darker place, that would be a big plus even if it is just going for the easier to see to see stuff.

Bortle 4 really isn't all that bad. I got accustomed to struggling with Bortle 8 - 9 in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The problem here, especially in Northeast Ohio is CLOUDS. However, after perusing NOAA historical cloud cover data, July, August and September clear up fairly well.

A matter of timing.

[Mike Q]

An absolutely dark location is not absolutely necessary to have a really nice star party. In fact, getting to a dark site is going to be very off-putting for some of the general public.
Our local club, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, does monthly public star parties every month except for December. We have anywhere between 200 and 1000 people show up, depending on the weather and location.
Some of our locations, Red Rock National Conservation Area - https://bit.ly/3TEIpAd, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park - https://bit.ly/3RQ9P3I, Lake Mead - https://bit.ly/48zTBCk, and even Sky Canyon which is right on the edge of the Vegas valley - https://bit.ly/3S2Q7Tp.
Our parties are usually scheduled for the first Saturday AFTER a new moon. That way we generally have a crescent moon we can share with the public. Then, if there are any planets visible, followed by the very brightest nebulae like M42 or galaxies like M31, and of course any good globular or open star clusters.
My point is, there's plenty you can do if you are not just interested in tracking down NGC and PGC galaxies!

Here in Ohio we dont really have great skies. Bortle 4 is about it. So if we can find darker place, that would be a big plus even if it is just going for the easier to see to see stuff.

Bortle 4 really isn't all that bad. I got accustomed to struggling with Bortle 8 - 9 in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The problem here, especially in Northeast Ohio is CLOUDS. However, after perusing NOAA historical cloud cover data, July, August and September clear up fairly well.

A matter of timing.

No doubt on the clouds. I am in north central ohio between Marion and Bucyrus. We have been clouded out since late November and that will be with us until May

[blach]

Anyone still trying to organize an Ohio Star Party? A friend of mine has a dark sky spot down by the Ohio River with a 36” telescope who would be interested in hosting.

[Mike Q]

Anyone still trying to organize an Ohio Star Party? A friend of mine has a dark sky spot down by the Ohio River with a 36” telescope who would be interested in hosting.

Not to my knowledge. Go for it. Where at on the river? Seems there are a lot of towns and light pollution down there.

[blach]

Anyone still trying to organize an Ohio Star Party? A friend of mine has a dark sky spot down by the Ohio River with a 36” telescope who would be interested in hosting.

Not to my knowledge. Go for it. Where at on the river? Seems there are a lot of towns and light pollution down there.

Here's his place on a dark sky map of Ohio. Not nearly as good as some parts of WV, but hopefully reasonable with the state lines.

Here's his new Starstructure 36" scope.

Would anyone else be interested in helping to make something like this happen or at least showing up? (I'm trying to gauge interest since it's very much not central.)

[Mike Q]

Ŵhat a beast of a scope. As to organizing a star party. Are you wanting a full on star party or maybe just a gathering one or two night gathering. Looking at various websites there is an aweful lot that goes into setting up a full blown star party. I think i would be leaning more towards a small weekend thing.