Great Basin Astronomy Festival

 

The Veil Nebula image taken from the 2012 astronomy festival

Jeffery Kaufman

The Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival will take place September 5-7, 2013. Join park rangers and experience out of this world family fun, excitement, and learn about day and nighttime astronomy. Here at Great Basin National Park we have some of the best air quality in the nation which translates to clear daytime skies, and incredibly dark night skies.

Don't have your own telescope? There will be many telescopes of different makes, shapes, and sizes for you and your family to look at the sun, stars, planets and other deep sky objects including nebulae and galaxies.

 

Why come to the Astronomy Festival?
We have a lot of things to enjoy at the Great Basin Astronomy Festival for all members of the family. Each day have fun looking and learning about our star, the Sun, through our safe solar telescopes. Enjoy a 'Astronomy 101' presentation which gives you have foundation for objects you see in the night sky. Sit down and relax as the park rangers present their night sky themed talents at the Ranger Talent Show. Then top off each night with viewing through over 30 telescopes, some as tall as 20 feet, with our expert astronomical volunteers at our Star Gazing session - see the highlights of the night sky - including planets and galaxies! Kids will enjoy earning their Deep Space Certificate (and a Milky Way candy bar) from the Dark Rangers and making special glow-in-the-sun solar bracelets. Plus many, many more fun activities!

 

Schedule of Events
Thursday September 5, 2013
12:00PM - 1:00PM - Astronomy 101: An Introduction to the Night Sky
1:00PM - 4:00PM - Sun Viewing with Solar Telescopes & Solar Braclet Making
3:00PM - 3:30PM - Learn to Use a Planisphere with Dark Ranger Steve
7:00PM - 8:00PM - Ranger Talent Show
8:00PM - Kid's Deep Sky Certificate
8:00PM - Star Gaze with Astronomers and Telescopes

Friday September 6, 2013
12:00PM - 1:00PM - Astronomy 101: An Introduction to the Night Sky
1:00PM - 4:00PM - Sun Viewing with Solar Telescopes & Solar Braclet Making
2:00PM - 3:00PM - Astronomy Presentation
3:00PM - 3:30PM - Learn to Use a Planisphere with Dark Ranger Steve
7:00PM - 8:00PM - Keynote Speaker Wally Pacholka Presentation
8:00PM - Kid's Deep Sky Certificate
8:00PM - Star Gaze with Astronomers and Telescopes

Saturday September 7, 2013
12:00PM - 1:00PM - Astronomy 101: An Introduction to the Night Sky
1:00PM - 4:00PM - Sun Viewing with Solar Telescopes & Solar Braclet Making
2:00PM - 3:00PM - Astronomy Presentation
2:00PM - 3:00PM - Kid's Program - Discovering Light: Life in the Infrared!
3:00PM - 3:30PM - Learn to Use a Planisphere with Dark Ranger Steve
7:00PM - 8:00PM - The City Dark Film and premiere of "Great Basin Astronomy" Ranger Minute
8:00PM - Kid's Deep Sky Certificate
8:00PM - Star Gaze with Astronomers and Telescopes

 

Wally Pacholka - award winning night sky photographer

www.twanight.org

Astronomy Festival Keynote Speaker
Great Basin National Park is excited to announce famed night sky photographer Wally Pacholka as the 2013 Astronomy Festival Keynote Speaker.

Wally Pacholka was an accountant by day, but it's his moonlighting "job" where he's always shined. He's aglow in winning national awards for his pictures, lofty kudos for being in the right place in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. Pacholka shoots celestial events - comets, close visits by other planets, meteor showers and the occasional Milky Way cluster - with our national parks and other down-to-earth scenery gracing the foregrounds of his frames. National Geographic also has used several of his shots, and NASA has shown more than two dozen of his images, including 22 of them as the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" on its Web site.

The 57-year-old Long Beach resident left accounting three years ago and now focuses full time on his passion - sayonara book ledgers and hello rocky ledges, the kind on which he can mount his camera tripod and await the majesty of the heavens.

His current project is blazing around the West's bevy of beautiful national parks for some late-night sky collaborations with the stars. He's done the Great Basin, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Arches and others. Next up are Yosemite and Yellowstone.

Wally's photgraphs can be viewed and ordered at his website AstroPics.

 

THe City Dark

www.thecitydark.com

The City Dark
Because of its popularity at last year's festival the award winning documentary The City Dark is returning for a second run. This thought provoking film chronicles the disappearance of darkness. Posing a deceptively simple question- "What do we lose, when we lose the night?" -the film leads viewers on a quest to understand how light pollution affects people and the planet. This film will be shown at 7:00PM Saturday September 7, 2013.

 

What is...? Events at the Festival
Kid's Program and Deep Space Certificate
The astronomy festival is a family event and we know the excitement astronomy can bring to the younger members of the family. On Friday and Saturday afternoons we will have presentations just for kids. Also, during the solar telescope observing we will have a table available to make special glow-in-the-sun solar bracelets. One of the most popular activities, kids will be able to earn their Deep Space Cetrficate, signed by the Great Basin Dark Rangers (and earn a Milky Way candybar), each night at the 8:00PM at the telescope observing field. After getting their assignment they will be required to go to specific telescopes to see and learn about different deep sky objects like planets, galaxies, and nebulas!

Telescope Observing each night at 8:00PM
Each night from 8:00PM to midnight the dedicated volunteer astronomer's will have 30-40 different telescopes available for public viewing. This is conducted at our observing field - an easy five minute walk from the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.

Solar Telescope Observing
Each afternoon on the back porch of the Lehman Caves Visitor Center special sun-safe solar telescopes will be set up to view on closest star - the Sun. Look at for sunspots, and if you're lucky, see a solar flare!

Ranger Talent Show
On Thursday evening the rangers of Great Basin National Park will show off their talents by preforming astronomy themed acts at this most popular event of the festival.

Astronomy 101 and Planisphere Presentations
Each afternoon at 12:00PM there will be a presentation on a specific astronomical topic. These sessions will prepare you to what you'll be viewing tonight on the observing field. Each afternoon at 3:00PM join Dark Ranger Steve in front of the Lehman Caves Visitor Center for a demonstration on how to use a planisphere - those wheely objects that tell you what stars you're seeing in the night sky. Want your own planisphere? There available for just a few dollars at each visitor center's bookstore.

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Astronomy Volunteer at Great Basin National Park.

Kelly Carroll

Volunteers Needed!
Are you an amateur or professional astronomer? Do you like to share your passion for astronomy with the public? We need your help! We are looking for volunteers for our festival. Give a presentation or just set up your gear for others to look through. Individuals and astronomy clubs are welcome. More in-depth information or have a question? Please email us.

 

The Great Basin National Park Astronomy Festival is generously supported by the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, and the National Parks Conservation Association.