Now that the 44th Annual Deep South Star Gaze is history we can look back at how we did before we look forward to the next one and contemplate on just what we want to do the next time around.
I can happily report that the weather cooperated pretty well and over all I estimate that it can be given a grade of a B+ if not an outright A. The only thing that can bring the score down slightly is the warm (if not hot) afternoon temperatures and the high-level cirrus clouds on Sunday night. The mornings and late afternoons were pleasant and the nights cooled off just enough to know that even cooler weather is just around the corner. Only by late evening did I need to break out a light jacket to be a bit more comfortable. Getting specific about our observing nights we had a very good Saturday night with a Sky Quality Meter reading indicating good Bortle 4 skies with a magnitude limit of 6.35. Sunday night was the night we had the high-altitude cirrus clouds so I did not take a reading then. Monday night was better than Saturday and it did appear a bit darker to me and the meter reading was slightly better indicating a marginally darker sky with a magnitude limit of 6.4
We had an identical registration to the previous year with a registration of 62. Based on identification from registration forms we had 28 registrants from the Pontchartrain Astronomy Society, 25 independents, 8 from the Baton Rouge Astronomical Society and 1 from the Jackson Astronomical Association. I believe percentage wise the female gender was well represented with approximately 25% of our attendees being female.
I want to thank Patty Zebrick for her guided tour of the FRC grounds pointing out native plants in the area. She followed up that outdoor activity with the presentation of a movie about caterpillars and how they are vital contributors to the flora and fauna chain that allows life to survive on our world. Not to be outdone by Patty, Leon Zebrick had a great program entitled "The Cosmic Distance Ladder" which discussed the evolution of distance measurement in the universe and how it has become more refined over time. Leon will repeat his program at the November PAS meeting on November 4th. It was quite interesting and well received. Additionally Steve Harrison gave us an overview with update on his home built observatory in southern Mississippi. I also did a program on binocular selection with a concentration on features and benefits and how one should select binoculars based upon budget, interests, age and physical strengths and weaknesses of the observer. I was also able to give a program on Stellar Scale - a look at stars in the sky from small to large.
Next year our dates for the Deep South Star Gaze will be from Tuesday October 26th, to Sunday morning October 31st. This coming spring the dates on the book for the Deep South Spring Scrimmage are Tuesday May 4th to Saturday May 8th (Sunday is Mother's Day). These dates may be tweaked slightly, more about that later and the reasons why.
I will end this post with some photos and will post more in subsequent posts.
Others who took pictures are welcome to contribute to this thread with narration and pictures of their own.
Thanks to all who attended!
Deep Sky pictures to follow in the next post.
Barry Simon, Director
Deep South Star Gaze