November 2019 Member Star Party

Members’ Star Party at the Lambs’ Nov. 23, 2019

What: Star party on a moonless night (moon came up long after event over)

Who: BAS and BYA members only and invited guests—not a public party

Where: The Lambs’ home

When: Nov. 23. Telescope setup began 5 p.m., pizza dinner 6 p.m., event ended between 10-10:30 p.m. (This was timed to have pizza at sunset.)

Who coordinated: Rick Buck coordinated this with the Lambs. He handled publicity with Derek and requested RSVPs for pizza so he could order the right amount. He also got the food.

Publicity used: Announced save-the-dates at September and November BAS/BYA meetings. Rick Buck sent an RSVP-for-pizza email five days out and again two days out, with a map to the event.

Number of people who attended: About 20, including the Lambs. Six adult BAS members came and four of those set up six telescopes. Four BYA families came and two of those set up telescopes.

Number telescopes used: Six, plus several pairs of binoculars.

Other materials brought: Rick Buck brought several pizzas of various types from Hideaway, along with chicken wings, iced tea, hot chocolate mix, and the makings for s’mores. The Lambs supplied soft drinks…and hot coffee! Rick also brought paper plates and towels and hand warmers. Denise brought November star charts. People also brought lawn chairs.

Materials of location site used: Their lovely yard and campfire!

BAS expenditures: None. People at the party reimbursed Rick Buck for the food.

What we observed: Lots! Numerous constellations; Venus, Saturn and Jupiter; and deep sky objects—nebulae such as the Dumbbell and Orion Nebulae, double stars; galaxies such as Andromeda; and star clusters. Also saw some meteors—one of the youth who attended saw his first meteor! The M38 Starfish Cluster in Auriga was especially beautiful viewed through a telescope. We also watched an unusually long pass of the ISS overhead!

Comments: A big thank-you to the Lambs for hosting! We had very clear weather for most of the evening. We saw a lot of objects and the Milky Way was a beautiful backdrop! We started packing up when dew settled in around 10 pm. We also enjoyed visiting with the resident pets! Getting RSVPs for pizza worked—this way we didn’t have a lot of leftovers, which is what happened last time!