onan star parties

[jayvan55]

just a quick question about the onan star parties can anyone go or are they members only? Thanks

[Steve Baranski]

A very understandable question.... Onan star parties are open to everyone (unless listed specifically as a private event). This is underscored on the website here:

http://www.mnastro.org/starparties/

Visitors

Visitors are welcome at MAS parties. If you have never attended a star party you may find the Star Party Etiquette page (www.mnastro.org/star_parties/etiquette.htm) useful. (If you want to bring a group, please visit our "Outreach" page, www.mnastro.org/outreach, for information on how to contact us in advance so we can better meet your needs.)

[Note: Visitors should keep in mind that while a dozen or more members may attend a typical star party, it is possible that no MAS members will choose to attend a given star party, even if the star party is announced as a "go" for the evening. If you desire the presence of MAS members when visiting a star party, either for informational or security reasons, you might want to consider an Onan Observatory public night. These events are always staffed by MAS volunteers . Visit www.mnastro.org/onan for information about the observatory and its public nights.]

[wkocken]

One other note, we no longer have an Onan ( or Metcalf or Belwin) star party schedule. With so many sites, we only declare official Star Parties at Cherry Grove and LLCC. We encourage members to declare their own Impromptu Star parties (ISPs). As Steve says, nonmembers are welcome, even to ISPs.

Onan DOES host public nights about 2 or 3 times a month on a Saturday. Everyone is welcome to attend, and bring a scope if they want to.

The exceptions to the "non-members are welcome" philosopy are LLCC and Belwin.
Due to our relationship withthe LLCC only MAS members may attend our star parties there.
Attendance at Belwin requires that you've gone through Belwin's orientation and MAS training.