On Saturday, July 22, the Antelope Valley Astronomy Club, in partnership with the Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Parks District, will be holding our annual Star-B-Cue picnic, followed by a public Star Party in the main parking lot, near Pavilions 1 and 2, at the Brite Lake Recreational Facility. This will be the seventh year that we have held this event at Brite Lake, and every year we have hundreds of local visitors, as well as many from the Antelope Valley and beyond, with whom we share the views of the cosmos.

The public event will take place from sunset on Saturday, July 22 till dawn on Sunday, July 23. This is a new moon weekend and the sky will be darkest for astronomical observing. As in years past, the club will be having a private picnic prior to the Star Party and the public are asked to arrive after 7:30 p.m. Local astronomers who wish to set up in the parking lot may arrive as early as 7 p.m. in order to get their equipment set up before dark.

Because the main parking lot will be used as the telescope field, visitors are asked to park along the dirt road immediately to the east of the parking lot. If arriving after dark, please use parking lights only if possible as you approach the event as headlights will interfere with viewing and affect the night adapted vision of the participants. Please be aware of the extreme fire danger and avoid driving or parking on dry grass.

On the night of the event, sunset is at 8:04 p.m. with end of Astronomical Twilight (when it is dark enough to really start seeing deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae) not occurring till approximately 9:45 p.m. While Jupiter and Saturn will be viewable throughout the event, visitors wanting to see deep sky objects should be prepared to stay later when it is truly dark. Please bear in mind also that many of the telescopes require darkness in order to be aligned so they can find objects. If visitors arrive too early, they will have to wait till they are ready for use.

We will also have several special solar telescopes available for people who might happen by earlier in the day and we will be handing out special Eclipse Shades for safe viewing of the solar eclipse on Aug. 21 as well as literature about that event.

Once again, the Tehachapi Valley Recreation and Parks District will be turning off the parking lot lights and the Tehachapi Cummings County Water District will be turning off the lights at their facility to ensure truly dark skies.

At a Star Party, astronomy club members and visitors view celestial objects such as planets, galaxies, globular clusters, nebulae, and sometimes even comets through serious, observatory quality, telescopes of various types, designs, and sizes. Last year, the largest telescope at the event was a dobsonian reflector with a 24 inch mirror. To preserve night adapted vision, only red lighting will be allowed and visitors are asked not to use white light flashlights. We understand that visitors may want to preserve their participation in the event with a photograph, but we ask that if you use flash you warn others so that they may turn away or cover their eyes to preserve their night vision.

For additional information, or if you have questions, visit avastronomyclub.org or call Frank or Rose Moore at 822-4580 or 972-4775. Information will also be available on our Facebook page at facebook.com/avastronomyclub.

Frank Moore is the president of the Antelope Valley Astronomy Club, Inc.

Originally posted here:

Annual Brite Lake astronomy event coming July 22-23 - Tehachapi News