Upcoming July Star Parties

[jjones7777]

Greetings all,

Just a reminder that Star Parties are scheduled for the next two weekends - July 1st/2nd, and July 8th/9th or both CGO and LLCC. If you are plannng to attend, considering adding your name to this thread and encourage your fellow photon-eers to join you.

Just remember that no official go/no go is called. Check the weather before heading out.

[Enberg]

I'm in for July 1st, weather permitting, at Cherry Grove. On the morning of 2nd, I am off to Ohio (family) and then to the Green Bank Star Quest star party in West Virginia if it's not cancelled because of the disastrous flooding in the region. Green Bank itself seems to be ok.

Nancy

[tugger]

Greetings all,

Just a reminder that Star Parties are scheduled for the next two weekends - July 1st/2nd, and July 8th/9th or both CGO and LLCC. If you are plannng to attend, considering adding your name to this thread and encourage your fellow photon-eers to join you.

Just remember that no official go/no go is called. Check the weather before heading out.

I'm confused. Looking at the calendar, there are entries for CGO on Friday and Saturday with Saturday having (alt). Is the 'alt' a backup date if Friday is not favorable? Would LLCC be both nights then?

This is what I'm seeing.

Thanks!

I'm currently in for CGO for one or both nights and both weekends.

[SEmert]

That interpretation is correct. In the past when we had called the star parties it was really clear. Friday night was the primary night and if Friday was unsuitable, the alternate (backup) night was Saturday. Now, with different policies for different sites and with the member's self-determination as to whether the weather conditions are suitable for the star party it is a little less clear.

At Cherry Grove, the star party date is Friday and if Friday's weather is unsuitable, the alternate is Saturday. However, since it is up to you to determine for yourself whether the skies are favorable for a star party, there is nothing stopping you from coming down on Friday, on Saturday, or on both evenings. Since CGO is on our own property there are no restrictions for member use. If Friday works out and is clear for the primary night but you want to come down Saturday evening, of course there is no guarantee there will be others there with you.

A good idea would be to go on the Cherry Grove forum or even on the MAS Star Parties and Events forum (this one) (...or both!) and announce you will be going down as an "ISP" - Impromptu Star Party - and extend the welcome for others to join you.

We seem to have so few good nights in Minnesota, between the Moon and the weather, that it is worth having (and announcing) Impromptu Star Parties when we want to have them.

Also, on the local light pollution front. As anyone who has visited CGO over the past couple of years, our next door neighbor to the west had been leaving his shop yard lights on (he is a volunteer fireman, and if he gets called, he needs to be able to see to get to his vehicle quickly). Over the past month, we have worked with him to replace those bright yard lights with IDA approved shielded lights with motion detectors. He still has the yard light on his house facing west, so it illuminates the front wall of his shop somewhat, but that is a lot less intrusive than the direct lights. With our western property border light fence, the local light pollution has now been greatly decreased. We're back to good viewing at CGO, especially on those nights when the transparency is good for viewing the dimmer objects.

[wkocken]

Thanks for the clarification on the alt. designation. At LLCC both nights of a star party weekend are typically available.
Also good news on the local light pollution solution! Thanks

[defalkner]

I'm going to Cherry Grove Friday night. It will be the first time I will have my 12.5" Dob out this year. I've made a couple of improvements and I'm excited about using it. I've already put my observing list together.

[markjob]

OK! Who is going to CGO Friday?

I see Dave Falkner and Nancy.

I am considering with one eye on the weather. I need to go somewhere for a test run before I go out east this fall. I am trying to find the happy medium with too little gear or not enough. If I go I am in for all night. Since I am one of those imager types I will be bringing some white light to the field. I will be mindful of all of visual observers and your fear of white light (ha ha). If the field is crowded with visual observers I may stay away as I don't want to be the annoying guy.

So if you are planning please post. I will decide.

Mark

[tugger]

I'm currently in for CGO for one or both nights and both weekends.

This is up in the air now. When/If I am able to say one way or the other, I'll update.

Does the turnout usually end up being more than the postings?

[Dave Venne]

My plan is to be there imaging. I'm unsure if I'll have the same stamina as Mark, but an imaging all-nighter sounds good. The stuff I'm going after--all globulars--should be relatively immune to the high clouds the CSC is suggesting. I hope!

[MTBehnke]

I'll be there either or both nights to try out my new ES ED80 triplet.

[Dick Jacobson]

The sky forecast looks best at LLCC Friday night July 1, so I'll likely be there with my new 29-inch.

[heinerv]

After a week of looking good, CGO doesn't look so good for tonight, Friday July 1. I'm thinking about Sunday night. What's everyone else considering.

[magneton]

I've been planning on going to CGO tonite - Friday. The NWS still shows it having the least cloud cover of the 3 upcoming nights, but CSC shows the sky deteriorating by 11pm. So like Vic, I'm suddenly hesitant.

It will be a last-minute decision for me based on the forecast. Hoping for one clear night - Fri or Sat or Sun.

[Dave Venne]

Ah, changeable Minnesota clouds. It looks like it will be too thick for imaging tonight so barring a minor miracle I'm staying home. Tomorrow night looks iffy or worse at this point, too.

The NWS has Sunday and Monday nights "mostly clear," so maybe we will catch a little good luck. I'm up for one night or the other--maybe even both!

[markjob]

As a result of the better conditions at my home. I will stay home. I will have some high clouds until midnight.

I was only available for tonight to wonder from the homestead.

Good Luck ALL. Hope you find clear skies wherever you might travel.

Mark

[tugger]

Ah, changeable Minnesota clouds. It looks like it will be too thick for imaging tonight so barring a minor miracle I'm staying home. Tomorrow night looks iffy or worse at this point, too.

The NWS has Sunday and Monday nights "mostly clear," so maybe we will catch a little good luck. I'm up for one night or the other--maybe even both!

How reliable is ClearSky? Which site do you use?

[Dave Venne]

How reliable is ClearSky? Which site do you use?

The best I can characterize CSC's reliability is that it's right more often than wrong.

What I use depends on how much time remains before darkness on a given evening:

• 3-7 days before: The National Weather Service is useful for a rough idea of when there might be good nights ahead. My confidence in the NWS forecast is higher when the forecast for a given night remains relatively unchanged from update to update. There's another service, ClearOutside, that may do better than the NWS in this time range.
• 1-2 days before: The CSC with a glance at the NWS to see if they agree. If they don't, it's a suggestion that the CSC may be missing something important.
• 0-24 hours before: Satellite loops, like these from the College of DuPage. There are many sources for these on the net; use whichever you find friendliest. I use loops to "fact-check" the CSC by comparing the CSC's synthetic image with a satellite image during the morning and afternoon. If the two images match, great--the CSC seems to have captured reality well and you can have greater confidence in what it says the evening will be like. If there's a difference it tells you a little about how the CSC is going off track, which it often does.

Regardless of all that, some nights the clouds win. Other nights you set up under clouds and the sky clears for a beautiful evening. One of the prettiest sights in this hobby is clouds receding as the stars come out.

[heinerv]

Someone showed me a nice site for forecasting skies. It's www.clearoutside.com/forecast. Like CSC it shows the amount of cloud cover by hour, plus a lot more. One pop up shows the amount of darkness per night. Boy does that show us what we know but in hard figures. For tonight, astronomical darkness is from 11:22 to 03:10. They also have a graph showing the whole year and the amount of darkness. It's an interesting site and I'd like to know what weather model they use.

Another site I use is weather.unisys.com for cloud cover both visible and ir. With it's loop function you can make a guess whether you made the right decision. No question about last night (Friday), total cloud cover.

Right now Sunday is still looking ok at CGO.

[Dave Venne]

It's an interesting site and I'd like to know what weather model they use.

In the acknowledgements they name the following data sources, so I suspect they're combining results from multiple models having different geographic strengths. I'd like to know the method they use for how these are "statistically collated together."

Dark Sky
USA NOAA
UK Met Office
MET Norway
Environment Canada
US Navy
METAR

[tugger]

Interesting....

I usually check ClearSky (that's CSC right?) and never thought of comparing different ones. CSC is a little too advanced for me at this point - I just care about cloud cover and haven't been looking long enough to know the difference in good seeing vs bad seeing. Honestly, I'm just happy to see anything at all!

Saturday night will probably be a game time decision for me especially if Sunday night is looking better.

[jjones7777]

We now have three separate countries telling us what to do: the Canadiens (CSC), the Americans (NOAA), and now the Brits (clear outside). One things is certain (or at least more certain): when all three agree on clear skies, we have a better chance of having a good night! Last night at LLCC, The only one who got it right were the Brits. Go figure...

For those who are interested, I completely agree with Dave Venne's sequence of events listed above. That's the sequence that has given me the most satisfactory results.

[tugger]

Thought I'd give you guys a heads up that there are a few cops on the south side of cannon falls with vehicles pulled over. Mile markers 96 and 97