StarPartyReport_9_7

Star Party

September 7, 2002

Erie Shores Council

and

Toledo Astronomical Association

The week had been clear, very clear. The forecast was for clear skies. Sunspots were plentiful and the moon would be cooperating by staying out of the night sky. All signs pointed to a good night of observing. Even with all that cause for hope, we had no idea how fantastic that night of sky-gazing was going to be. Preparations had been under way for most of the day. The kitchen was stocked and prepared, the movies were in hand and exciting programs were scheduled. The 25" telescope was in good condition and under computer control. The 12.5" Meade was already here and additional scopes were arriving by the minute. An 8" Edmond Newtonian, a couple 10" Schmidt-Cassagrains and 16" Newtonian were all being setup. The 8" and the 12.5" were fitted with solar filters so that sunspots could be viewed. Sunspot viewing began at 5:00pm. There were plenty to see. A large spot designated 105 was on the edge just coming into view. About a dozen others were visible across the face of the sun. Some of the scouts were bringing their own scopes so we could help them learn how to use them after the sun set.

Dinner was served at 6:00pm. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, dinner rolls, salad bar and brownies were prepared and served by the highly skilled camp staff. We couldn't have gotten a better dinner if we were at a four star restaurant.

After dinner, orientation of the September sky was presented by Dr. Frank Merritt. This was followed by an introduction to telescopes by Alan White. At 8:00pm John Wisnewski presented a captivating talk and demonstration about light and polarization. This was followed by Don Murad's presentation of Astronomy on the Internet.

By the end of the presentations the sky was getting dark and Venus was visible setting above the trees in the southwest. Shortly a number of stars could be seen and the fun was beginning. The sky rapidly got dark and star clusters, nebulae and galaxies were becoming good viewing targets.

At about 9:30pm as we were viewing a number of objects in the southern sky, someone was viewing an object in the northern sky. I heard a comment to the effect "where did that light pollution suddenly come from?" Then a shout of "Look at the Northern Lights" and "it's an Aurora!" WOW! For the next half hour to 40 minutes we were completely awed by a display of Northern Lights that rivaled what can normally only be seen at far northern locations. I can still see the vast green glow that spread across the northern sky nearly from east to west. Large red patches were also visible as well as a bright arc above the green glow. The rays of light, green and red, stretched clear up to the zenith. A comment was made that this exceeded all of the auroras they had seen in Alaska. This was an experience of a lifetime.

After it faded, we got back to viewing many of the deep sky objects that were on our lists. This progressed through the night with new objects coming into view as others were setting in the west. At 12:30am the aurora returned for a short time as a faint glow in the northern sky. We quickly returned to viewing the many deep sky objects available. Most had turned in before I was able to get Saturn and Orion in the big scope. There were three excited scouts still anxious to see them. When Jupiter rose in the northeast, I was ready to crash. That was about 5:00am.