On Saturday evening, August 26, the Chabot Observatory and Science Center in Oakland, California, hosted the second of two nights of a major star party event. Also participating were Celestron, the Los Angeles-based telescope manufacturer, and Astronomy magazine. The attendance was up from the previous night, with several hundred people heading to Chabot, which is located high above the Bay Area along Skyline Drive in Oakland, to view through a multitude of telescopes, talk about astronomy and recent events in the science and the hobby, tour the Chabot museum, make telescopes, and generally have a good time.

Senior Editor Michael Bakich and I were proud to represent the magazine, and we talked to numerous astronomy enthusiasts during the night. From Celestron, Kevin Kawai and Daniel Mounsey were on hand and set up several computerized telescopes for visitors to use. Chabot’s telescopes were also in full swing inside two large domes and a big roll-off-roof shed; they included the historic 8-inch Clark refractor, “Leah,” which dates from 1883; the 20-inch Brashear refractor, “Rachel”; and a massive 36-inch reflector, “Nellie.”

Planetarium shows, workshops, and talks took center stage on Saturday. Unfortunately, high clouds rolled along the ridge and ruled out telescopic observing on Saturday. But we had great fun and talked about all aspects of the universe with a large number of people. I delivered a talk on “Astronomy’s new frontier,” describing the latest findings about planetary science, cosmology, and astrophysics. I described the origin of the Moon, the fate of life on Earth, the size and age of the universe, dark energy, dark matter, the search for water and life on Mars, extrasolar planets, interstellar travel, black holes, and many other subjects. The array of questions from the audience was superb.

Michael delivered a great talk on “Star Death,” describing fission, fusion, the internal processes of stars, and the many ways in which they end their lives. Again, great questions permeated the audience. It was a lovely night with a group of would-be amateur astronomers, and our colleagues Kevin Kawai and Daniel Mounsey from Celestron enthusiastically discussed scopes and amateur astronomy with many observers and imagers.

The telescope making workshops inside gave visitors the chance to see how scopes are made from scratch, primarily with mirror grinding as the focus. Informal talks covered a variety of subjects like from the origin of the universe to the recent landing of Curiosity on Mars. All in all, it was a great night in the Bay Area.

Related blog: Chabot Observatory Star Party, Day 1