Paul Atkinson sent us another report from the 2008 Chiefland Star Party. Thanks, Paul!
Live from Chiefland Star Party 2008, here is the on-field report for Sunday night’s observing and Monday’s activities.
Sunday night was an awesome observing experience. The site was abuzz with lots of activity right from dusk with reports of multiple attendees going until 5 a.m. or later! The seeing just seemed to get better as the night progressed. Estimations were as follows: seeing 7.5 and transparency 9.0 with approximately magnitude 6.7 skies. Humidity was moderate to heavy, but it wasn’t a problem. That’s to be expected in Florida.
Wandering the field after dark, I spoke with several people at the party. Dr. Bruce Bodner of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was busy with his Takahashi TOA150 and EM400 mount imaging NGC1491. Additional equipment included Apogee U16M and 50mm square Astrodon Gen II filters. He’s hoping to enter the photo contest if he gets some good data — which he fully expects to obtain considering the sky quality.
Another attendee, Mark Jenkins of Beloit, Wisconsin, also was busy imaging. Mark’s gear included a TEC 8-inch f/15.5 Mak/Cass and an Astrophysics Traveler refractor on an AP mount. To image, he uses a Canon 50D in SLR mode and stacks the frames. When I stopped to speak with him, he was into a run of 134 sixty-second exposures of M45.
When I inquired if he was enjoying the party, he said, “All in all this place is about as good as it gets in my book when it comes to star parties.”
After wandering around, I got down to doing my own visual observing. I spent the first part of the night checking out objects in Sagittarius like M11, M17, M18, M20 and so on. I also looked at Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter showed a wealth of detail with the exceptional seeing, and Venus was dazzling to the point of being overpowering in the eyepiece. I toured all the good Messier and NGC objects with my 14-inch SCT and 5-inch refractor. I ended the night seeing all six Trapezium stars in M42 through the 5-inch, plus a lot more in the C14. We spent the last half hour observing more meteors before finally calling it quits about 3:30 a.m.
On Monday morning, CSP staff provided a “massage” chair (pictured at right) for attendees to use. I have included a picture. Just walk up, sit down, and enjoy as it eases the stress of a long night of viewing and imaging from your body. The staff also runs two movies — with popcorn — each night in a separate dark room for people to enjoy. It is great as a break from observing or imaging, or if you need a place for the kids.
Monday’s pretty quiet on the field, as there appears to be a lot of tired astronomers. I have also included a picture of John Novak’s impressive 32-inch Dob named “The Phoenix.” It’s a Stellafane winning scope. I’ll try to share more images of equipment in a later report. We expect tonight to be another great night. Skies should again be near perfect.
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