I've finally made a visit to the Grand Canyon Star Party. It's been something I've wanted to do for years, but other commitments have always kept me away. This is the 18th year of this large event, which is a week long star party focused primarily on public outreach. The park rangers at the Canyon are very supportive as it allows them to encourage public visitors to experience the joy of the dark night skies, and perhaps learn to value the preservation of dark skies, which fits well into the National Parks program here in the U.S.
The party started last weekend and ends tomorrow night, so I will only be here for two nights. Dean Salman and I drove up today from Tucson, and this evening Dean gave a very nice presentation to about 200 park visitors. He showed many of his outstanding CCD images during twilight, and afterward everyone went down to the parking lots where about 60-70 telescopes were set up. The whole event takes place right on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Actually, there is a North Rim version of the party that runs simultaneously, but the South Rim event is the larger one.
The skies here are quite dark, with a dramatic Milky Way providing an awesome backdrop to the star-studded sky. This is really a great place to hold a star party!
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