Welcome to OSP XIII - 2017.
...and it just keeps getting better!
With the threat of being handed a shovel or rake, they still booked the flight to the 13th Overgaard Star Party to see what new activities surround the Apache-Sitgreaves Observatory.
This year we lost a dear friend... Kuiper was 13 years old and walked on this property before it was Apache-Sitgreaves Observatory. A good friend will be missed.
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Kuiper and Hawking enjoying the sun.
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...and then there was Einstein.
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Hawking meets Einstein, and the conversations of General Relativity and Black Holes never ended....
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Several things were done in preparation of the star party.... The Sagan Plaque was refurbished for another lost friend Sagan.
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The stairwell to The Ravine was upgraded with steps, steel railing, and solar lights to illuminate it at night....
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Red lights were placed around the observing area and pathways....
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Soon the sign would read "OPEN"....
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60-ton of dirt and rock was delivered, and no, no one was handed a shovel or rake. I, of course couldn't wait to flatten it out creating a driveway and parking lot....
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The parking lot looked like a bad mole problem, until the front-end loader would arrive...
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And Joe's famous pizza dough... and we had the best star party cutter on hand...
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Yum!!....
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Laptops are a critical, essential item when in the middle of nowhere...., with a new item of spacey cushions.
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Star parties should be all fun and games....
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We're not good at this game but it was fun none the less....
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All attendees signed the Log Book, made with real log....
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Bill's turn to add to his growing list of dates he's made the trip....
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John has the longest list of dates of anyone, starting with OSP I missing only a couple....
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The Log Book is showing its age, but every year the chiseled additions are photographed so while faded and worn it is a fun tradition....
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The C8 adds a cool view of stuff we put the 36-inch on....
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Some serious computing power going on here. Capable of killing 4 deep cycle batteries with our minimal solar power plant running. "Scotty, I need more power!!"....
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The truck is actually more full leaving than when it arrived.....
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Back in The Valley, swimming and just enjoying the sun....
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Just kicking back....
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With some processing done following OSP, here is John's Wide-Field Milky Way shot....
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John took several images and Doug was able to stitch them into a very nice expansive view....
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A quick shot with the 60Da in the 36-inch of The Moon....
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A movie of Jupiter using the 60Da in the 36-inch, using the best 41 frames, approximately 7% of the movie stacked....
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A cropped version of the same image....
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After the star party was over, the mole piles were smoothed out....
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A nice driveway was created....
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And a parking lot was formed....
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Seven-car parking lot is not operational with signage for directions and has proved very useful....
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