Out of this world experience for Santa Clarita star gazers

Jupiter and its moons, globular clusters, neighboring galaxies, and a nebula named for a Swan greeted excited and enthusiastic star gazers at a Santa Clarita Astronomy club's star-party Saturday night at Vazquez Rocks Natural Area. The 22 year old Local Group hosted the event in which club members set up dozens of large and small telescopes, binoculars and computers to share the wonders of the night sky with the general public.

and some photographs from the star party.

"Whoa, that's awesome!" exclaimed a 10 year old boy after gazing through a powerful pair of binoculars at the setting moon. JPL Quality Assurance Manager Rick Miseroy, a club member of 5 years and a resident of Canyon Country, brought three binoculars and a home-built telescope to the star party. One powerful binocular was mounted upon a custom made wooden tripod that could be elevated up or down for children and adults.

Club president and COC Astronomy Instructor Tom Falconer expected 150-200 visitors, and by 9pm, the parking lot was at capacity and 5 minute lines formed at many of the telescopes. Despite the light-pollution from Santa Clarita and Los Angeles, the clear skies offered many excellent opportunities for viewing distant stars, nebulas and galaxies.

The party began much earlier at 2pm when visitors were invited to look at earth's nearest star, the Sun, with a powerful telescope and specialized hydrogen filter. Viewers gasped when they noticed earth-sized solar flares protruding from the surface of the sun.

The turnout surprised many, including first-time attendees Vince & Joy Deleo of Canyon Country. "It just goes to show you that the movies these days stink," said Vince Deleo. Deleo, a retired engineer, has had an interest in astronomy since he was a boy. While working at Spectra Labs in Sylmar, Deleo built his own telescope with an 8" mirror and has since been gazing at the heavens with a small but powerful Meade telescope. Early in the evening, Deleo was one of the first to focus his scope on Jupiter and several of the gas giant planet's moons.

The star party was not just for adults, however. Dozens of children attended the event, including some students who came for extra credit. 8th grade science teacher Nicholas Milasich of Rio Norte Junior High School said he wanted to "generate interest in science and astronomy," by giving his students a chance to earn extra credit for attending the star party.

Some club members set up sophisticated computer-telescope interfaces in which images from the telescope could be displayed on a laptop's computer screen. Perhaps the most fascinating and popular image of the night came from retired civil engineer Jim Van Winkle's HP laptop. The laptop displayed several "live" images of the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, some 37 million light years away in the Canes Venatici Constellation. The galaxy, as it appeared approximately 37 million years ago, was shown in close proximity to another galaxy NGC 5195. "You can see the arms of the Whirlpool galaxy affected by the other galaxy," explained Van Winkle to awe-struck visitors.

The Local Group Astronomy Club, can be reached by visiting www.lgscv.org. Club dues are only $24 per year.

A club member sets up his Meade telescope against the backdrop of the Vazquez Rocks

Due to a special hydrogen filter placed over the front of the telescope, participants could stare as long as they wanted at the Sun. Do not try this at home!

Club President Tom Falconer looks through a telescope in the early evening

JPL Quality Assurance Manager Rick Miseroy brought several powerful astronomy binoculars to the star party

A child gazes at the moon through one of Miseroy's binoculars

First time attendee Vince Deleo adjusts his small, but powerful Meade Telescope.

By early evening, at least a dozen telescopes, binoculars, and computer systems were set up. The crowd continued to grow after dark

Rio Norte Jr. High science teacher Nicholas Milasich, left, watches as a club member constructs his telescope

Though the moon was just a sliver of light in the darkening sky, viewers coudl still see many of its craters

The moon as it set over Vazquez Rocks

Darkening skies set the stage for a stellar evening

City lights, but stars still visible

Post Script: Jim van Winkle was kind enough to send me these photographs made by his telescope and computer on Saturday Night! Thanks Jim!

Andromeda Galaxy

Lagoon Nebula

Galaxy M82

The Swan Nebula

The Whirlpool Galaxy

Comments (1)

us-and-a-dogAugust 29 at 1:41 AM PT
It was worth the drive, the darkness and the dust. Besides some interesting star formations and planets, I also got to look at a couple of nebulae which, as one of the astronomy club members was quick to explain, are dust and gas in the intergalactic space or better were, since we are seeing things that were there 25,000 light years ago. The veil nebula was very impressive with it's two parts...the upper one looked like a chunk of intergalactic barbwire to me. Having not seen the milky-way so clear since summer camp days, many moons ago, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pensive and reflective too. Last Saturday night was a summer night well spend amidst telescopes, stars, planets, soft-spoken astronomical geek-talk and dust rising from the feet of people walking around in that dark parking lot at the Vasquez Rock Park.