Sky and Telescope - April 2016 - 34

Let's Get Together!

Star Parties
in the 21st Century

Organized observing
events have undergone
explosive growth since
the 1980s. Here's why.

I've been attending star parties since
the 1970s, and in my opinion they're
one of the best things about our
avocation. I continually preach about
them to beginners at my club and
online. If you really want to experience amateur astronomy, I explain,
get to a local, regional, or national
gathering where amateur astronomers
observe under dark skies.
Yet more than a few veteran
stargazers have never attended a star
party (or have stopped going). That's a
shame, because these events are often
more fun - and more productive -
than observing alone in the backyard
or even with friends at the local club's
dark-sky observing site (if it's lucky
enough to have one).
So here's some perspective on
the star-party phenomenon as seen
through the eyes of someone who has
been to scores of them over the years.
34

April 2016 sky & telescope

Rod Mollise
Dark skies are the heart of the star-party experience.
They aren't the only reason you'd drive a hundred - or a
thousand - miles to attend one, but they're a big reason.
Most of us put up with considerable light pollution in
our backyards. A local club's observing site might be
a bit better, but it's usually a compromise: far enough
from the city to improve upon the backyard sky but close
enough to make members' drives convenient.
Star parties, on the other hand, are held at locations
as far from the light domes of major cities as possible.
If you haven't been out under a truly dark sky lately, you
might have forgotten what "dark" really means - how
compelling the sight of stars in their multitudes can
be. It's easy to identify the amateur astronomers who've
never seen really good skies or haven't seen them in a
while: they're the people staring at the sky above with
open mouths as night falls. Even after nearly 40 years of
star partying, I'm much the same. Gazing up at a pristine sky, I find myself thinking, "This is the way you're
supposed to experience amateur astronomy."



Sky and Telescope - April 2016

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Sky and Telescope - April 2016 - A
Sky and Telescope - April 2016 - B
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