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Mid Florida Star Gaze 2008
Kissimmee Prairie National Park
January, 2008 by Jay Messeroff
I arrived early afternoon on Thursday, to find John and Jim already setting up their telescopes on the grassy area east of the campground road. This location afforded practically 360 degrees of view, with absolutely no obstruction to the east. A few other club members arrived soon after, and others trickled in on Friday and Saturday. We even had a few fellow astronomers, not part of our group, join us. I guess we are not the only ones to recognize Kissimmee Prairie Park as a good observing site.
The Astronomy Gods were not that cooperative this year. In all, we got about two half-evening sessions out of the three nights that I was there. The first night was clouded out, but from time to time a few sucker holes showed us what the sky really looked like in very dark skies. Needless to say, we were very anxious for clear skies.
Conditions on Friday night improved immensely, and the skies were pretty spectacular. Many deep space objects were visible naked eye, and we were even treated to a few meteors from the Quadrantid Meteor shower. Fred and I were the only ones imaging, while everyone else was set up for observing. There were scopes of all types and sizes present…a Dob, numerous SCT’s and refractors. From time to time a layer of clouds would pass over and the stars would disappear then reappear. For some of us novices, the star field was so intense that identifying constellations and objects was difficult. Conditions began to worsen around 2AM, with many people calling it a night. I chose to take a catnap, returning a couple of hours later to find a few die-hards still at their telescopes. There was great observing still to be had, but no possibility for further decent imaging.
Temperatures began to warm up on Saturday, although the conditions in the evening did not appear promising. Some members chose to pack up their telescopes and a couple even decided to head home early. As darkness fell, the sky opened up and those who remained vigilant were treated to the clearest night of all… even if just for a few hours. The airs was stable, and views of Mars and Saturn (with her near edge-on rings), were quite impressive. The Park Ranger and a number of outside visitors showed up. They were quite impressed with our equipment and took pleasure looking at the heavens through our telescopes. It was just like a public observing session. I got a few decent images during this timeframe, but then the fog rolled in. It was like something out of a horror movie. The sky began to close in on us, with stars disappearing all around us leaving only a small clear patch of sky directly above. It was only a matter of time before our session was over for good. We covered our telescopes and were in bed around 1AM.
All in all, the Stargaze was great! Nature hikes during the day (deer and turkey galore), camaraderie around the dinner table and during the observing sessions, and dark, dark skies. Brrrr, was it cold! You’d have thought that we were gathered for an Eskimo convention…dressed with layer upon layer, hats and gloves too. Everyone was thankful for the never ending hot chocolate/coffee setup outside of John and Maria’s camper.
Kissimmee Prairie State Park turned out to be an excellent site for the star party. We were all very thankful for flush toilets and especially the hot showers. Having electricity for our camping and telescope equipment was also a plus. If we plan early, perhaps we can reserve the full campground and invite some of the other local astronomy clubs next year.
-Jay Messeroff
Click on these thumbnails to view images
Flame Nebula |
M33 |
M35 |
M52 |
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Comet Tuttle |
M42 |
Sculptor Galaxy |
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