6degrees AstroBlog

Bogus Basin Public Star Party

By Irwin Horowitz, 5-15-07

On saturday, May 19, Bogus Basin and the Boise Astronomical Society will be co-hosting the annual Bogus Basin Star Party, weather permitting, in the parking lot of the Frontier Lodge located at the ski resort.  I invite everyone to come up and join us for an evening under the stars.  We will be starting at 7 p.m., with viewing of the Sun prior to sunset using specially filtered telescopes.  We should also be able to observe both the crescent moon as well as brilliant Venus in broad daylight, a rather rare opportunity to do so.  At 7:30 p.m., park rangers will take interested attendees on a nightlife nature hike around the area that will last about one hour. 

Sunset will occur shortly after 9 p.m., and then the magic truly begins.  As the twilight gives way to darkness, the moon and Venus will stand out as a pair of shining beacons in the west, descending down together towards the horizon.  Above them, the magnificent Saturn will dominate the evening sky, and will serve as the highlight of the party.  Later on in the evening, mighty Jupiter will rise above the trees in the southeast.  In between, we will observe a plethora of objects, from binary stars and star clusters, to nebulae and galaxies millions of light years away.  We will take our guests on a constellation tour, pointing out such luminaries as Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and its famous asterism the Big Dipper, Leo the Lion, and Hercules.  There is also a faint comet which should be visible in our larger telescopes.

Star Party etiquette

There are a few things I’d like to point out in advance to make your viewing experience as pleasant as possible.  First, if you arrive after dark, please turn off your vehicle’s headlights as you approach the parking area.  You will be asked by volunteers to turn on your parking lights to minimize the impact on those already viewing through the telescopes.  Of course, if you can arrive before sunset, this won’t be an issue.  You will be asked to park with your car turned around and pointing back down the mountain so when you leave your headlights will once again not shine towards the viewing area.  If you bring along any flashlights, please make sure they have a red filter in front of their light bulb.  White light flashlights are not desirable at star parties as they ruin our night vision.

Even though the weather will be quite warm during the day, it will be cool on top of the mountain after dark.  Please dress appropriately.  Remember, it is always easier to remove excess clothing if you are too warm than it is to put on clothes that you don’t have with you if you are too cold.  If you are a smoker, please do not smoke in the vicinity of the telescopes.  The sensitive optical components react poorly to the fine particles present in smoke.  If you have small children with you, please keep them from running around unsupervised.  Our telescopes represent expensive investments made by the members of BAS and we really don’t want anyone to damage them inadvertently.

What’s it gonna cost?

The beauty of the Bogus Basin star party is that it is free.  We would appreciate a modest donation per car load to offset some expenses, but it is not required.  There will be a sunset spaghetti dinner available for purchase in the lodge, along with beverages.  The cost of the dinner is $9 for adults and $5 for children under 6 years of age.

What if the weather is questionable?

On Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m., I will be posting a message in this thread on whether the event is cancelled due to weather.  Understand that even if there are some clouds present, we will likely still have the event go forward as planned.  If there is a threat of rain in the evening, we will have to evaluate its likelihood, and make a decision based on that.  Regardless, look to this article and the comment section where I will post a final go/no-go decision for the star party.

Of course, if you have any questions about the event, please don’t hesitate to contact me either here or via and I will respond in a timely manner.  Looking forward to seeing a fabulous turnout on Saturday and remember to “turn out your lights and turn on to astronomy!”

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