What's the point?

A friend of mine is putting on a star party at the Barnes and Noble right in downtown Orem, UT. This is to kickoff the release of the new Harry Potter book. The limiting magnitude there is about 3.0. If they drove a short 20 minutes they could reach about 5.5 mag skies. Now don't get me wrong, I love showing kids the heavens but to do it for commercial gain in light polluted skies it seems pointless. I don't know what he is planning on viewing with the parking lights on besides Jupiter. I need clear dark skies away from the city. What do you guys think?

Debbie

For outreach functions (such as this) it is a lot better to go to the crowds than to expect the crowds to come to the dark skies.

As strange as it may seem, we get lots of people at our Barnes and Noble adventures who have never seen the rings of Saturn or the stripes on Jupiter--or the Galilean moons.

Just take what you can get.

If I were going out to "observe" I would go for the 5.5 skies. But I'm not--on those nights. I'm going out to get people interested in looking up, and maybe talking a little about light pollution.

After all, my earliest memories of celestial wonders were looking up at the night skies at Saturn from the middle of Los Angeles. It worked for me.

If you need some kind of excuse--use the Barnes and Noble adventure to hand out flyers for the next dark sky party out at your dark sky site.

And who cares if you are making money for Barnes and Noble as long as you are getting converts to astronomy in the process.

Alex

The point? Well, I suppose it is to raise public awareness of the wonders of the heavens, as limited as that may be under mag 3 skies, and to point out what light pollution does to hide those wonders. Since the "big event" isn't 20 minutes away at the darker site, you go to where the crowds are.

The astro club I belong to sets up once a month in a downtown park, a la John Dobson, and the skies there are maybe mag 3 on a good night. Doesn't stop us from showing the planets that are visible, the Moon, and some of the brighter deep sky objects. The purpose is public outreach, not serious observing...we have our own dark site for that.

As to commercial gain, is your friend charging anyone? The crowds are going to be at the bookstore for the Harry Potter release whether your friend is there or not.

Just my .02,
Doug
Midway, FL

Debbie,

I think you are wrong regarding this. There are plenty of things you can show kids even from 3.0 skies. Many of the Messier objects are visible if you know which ones show well from light polluted skies. In addition, sometimes seeing something as "mundane" as Jupiter is all it takes to spark one childs immagination.

It is my contention that we are losing ground in getting "young" people involved in astronomy. Although, at 36, I wouldn't say that I am pushing any age barriers, I still feel it is important to show kids and never hesitate every chance I get.

Paul Atkinson
AstroPro Products