Indiana Family Star Party, 6815 W County Road 200 N, Frankfort IN, Aug 1
2013 is the 11th year for Indiana's largest star party. Family friendly and planned to reward experienced and inexperienced astronomers alike. Prairie Grass Observatory; 6 building facility with 28" Go-to, 16" LX200, 16" Newtonian, 7" refractor (in 13ft dome), 100 mm Binoculars, air-conditioned lecture hall. On-site food, speakers, free popcorn, coffee, hot chocolate, free donuts, camping, Hayrides, venders, aircraft flyover. Free on-field Wi-Fi. Activities for children. Playground, Disc Golf, H-Alpha solar viewing on 16" scope. Support: Wabash Valley Astronomical Society, Indiana Astronomical Society and Muncie Astronomy Club.
Registration: www.indianastars.us or call Russ Kaspar at 765 659-3338.
Savoy Star Party, 547 Loop Raod, Savoy MA, Aug. 2
A 10 day star party in Mass for more info go to ; www.savoystarparty.web.com
AstroBlast 2013, Oil Region Astronomical Observatory in Two Mile Run County Park, Oil City PA, Aug. 6
AstroBlast is an annual star party hosted by the Oil Region Astronomical Society near Oil City, Venango County, Pennsylvania. This year marks our 20th anniversary. The event is held under the dark skies of the Oil Region Observatory in the Lockwood area of Two Mile Run County Park. The event will include dark sky observing, speakers and great food. Dates are August 6 - 11, 2013, with the formal events on Friday and Saturday.
Enter the following coordinates in Google Maps to locate us: 41.470515,-79.783629
Stellafane Convention, Breezy Hill, Springfield VT, Aug. 8 - 11
The 78th Convention of Amateur Telescope Makers on Breezy Hill in Springfield, Vermont, the 2013 Stellafane Convention, will be held Thursday through Sunday August 8-11, 2013.
Comet Tales: Our changing view of these Cosmic Vagabonds will be the keynote talk given by Guy Consolmago at the Saturday Evening Program. He studies the physics of meteorites and asteroids and serves as Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. He is co-author of the popular sky guide Turn Left at Orion.
Other talks include:
A Hartness House Workshop on Solar Astronomy will be held on Thursday.
History and Design of the Porter Turret Telescope by Bert Willard, club historian and ATM museum curator.
Observing Double and Triple Stars by Glenn Chaple.
The Wonderful World of Wideangle Astroimaging by Al Takeda.
Make Your Own Observatory by Phil Harrington
Gigapixel Focal Plane for Ground Based Astronomy with Atmospheric Distortion
Correction by Berni Kosicki.
Stars Over Yellowstone, Madison Junction Amphitheater, West Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, Aug. 9
Join the Southwest Montana Astronomical Society for the 16th annual Stars Over Yellowstone weekend event. We meet Friday and Saturday evenings at the Madison Junction Amphitheater for a guest speaker followed by night sky observing, Talk starts at 9:30 p.m., observing around 10:30 p.m. Scopes range from a 90mm refractor to a 20 inch dob. Bring your scope and join us under the dark skies of Yellowstone.
Our August speaker, Dr. Harlan Spence, is Director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where he also holds a Professorship in the Department of Physics. His research interests include theoretical and experimental space plasma physics; cosmic rays and radiation belt processes; heliospheric, planetary magnetospheric, lunar, and auroral physics. Prior to joining UNH, Spence was a Professor of Astronomy at Boston University and member of the technical staff at The Aerospace Corporation. Spence is principal investigator on several space experiments, including NASA's Van Allen Storm Probes mission.
Telescope Viewing at Chimney Rock National Monument, 3 miles south of hwy 160 on hwy 151, 7 miles west of Pagosa Springs CO, August 9
Gate opens at 6:00 for people to set up telescopes in the upper parking lot.
Check in with Joan Mieritz for specific instructions before you drive up.
6:30 Cabin Visitor Center & Gift Shop is open for purchases
7PM Lecture Program begins at the Cabin Ampitheater.
8:30 Viewing begins in the upper parking lot.
Viewing ends when last telescope is packed up.