Stub Stewart Star Party

Rose City Astronomers and OMSI have monthly Star Parties on uncloudy nights at Rooster Rock State Park and Stub Stewart State Park, and they are really cool!  We prefer Stub Stewart, because it's such a lovely place for a ramble before the Star Party gets underway. Unless you own private land, it's hard to have access to nature at dusk, and it's neat to be alone in the gathering darkness to hear the different sounds from birds and insects, and to look for bats.  July's event took place under an especially vivid moon, and some people were complaining that they might be able to see more stars without so much moonlight.  But the moon was actually the reason this date was picked for the star party.  It was an especially good night to see the moon in all its glory, and many of the generous amateur astronomers there allowed visitors to look through their telescopes and see vivid details of its surface and craters.  We also got great views of Saturn, its rings and even one of its moons.  This month, the star party will take place at the apex of the Perseid meteor showers, and they are definitely not to be missed!  

Something funny happened to me that I've observed before.  When we would wait in line to see through a telescope, and it was our turn, I would let Jasper look through first and then look through myself.  Over and over, kids behind us would assume when Jasper was done that it was their turn and move forward to look through themselves.  I don't honestly think they were just being rude, I think they were simply used to adults not being curious, and naturally expected me to not have any desire to look through myself.  If we, as adults, want our kids to be curious about the big wide world around them, we have to show them that it's not just kid's stuff.  Learning should not be something you do just when you are young and have tests to pass.  It should be a lifelong habit, a lifelong joy.