The 2nd annual Nebraska Star Party was held July
25-30 at Merritt Reservoir in north-central Nebraska. Though extremely
successful, last year's NSP was a mere trial run. This year, the
Nebraska Star Party became the vision of its organizers, The Prairie
Astronomy Club and the Omaha Astronomical Society. It's a dark-sky
observer's Mecca with something for the entire family, attracting
nearly 200 amateur astronomers and family members from Washington
state to New Jersey and as far south as Houston.
Although the official starting date was Tuesday July
25th, attendees began arriving
as early as Saturday the 22nd.
Those fortunate early-comers were treated to a splendid aurora
show on Sunday night. Around 1:30 am a glow resembling distant
city lights began appearing over low far-off clouds in the north.
Within minutes, spike of aurora began shooting up 30 to 40 degrees,
giving the entire north horizon a vista resembling a great crown.
Ironically, back in January, the NSP "Clear Skies Coordinator"
boldly predicted an aurora!
Soon astronomers began converging on Merritt Reservoir,
including the camping and observing areas on the south end of
the lake and Merritt Resort on the north. The resort features
18 furnished cabins and the Merritt Trading Post, and also offers
boat rentals and nice beach access to the lake. Merritt Reservoir
is one of the premier fishing lakes in Nebraska, laying claim
to many state records. Three miles up the road is the Snake Falls
Restaurant overlooking beautiful Snake Falls. The nearest town,
26 miles to the north, is Valentine, NE, a friendly community
of 2600.
Area residents were invited to an evening of observing
at Merritt Resort on Monday July 24th. Many of the visitors looked
through telescopes for the first time, while others had their
long-lost interest in astronomy rekindled that night. Throughout
the remainder of the week, observers enjoyed the pristine skies
from the observing and camping area at the south end of the lake.
With the exception of wind and partly cloudy skies on the last
night, every night of NSP was crystal clear. Credit goes to the
"NSP Clear Skies Coordinator".
Thursday was devoted to canoeing & tubing down
the Niobrara River, a very scenic river with small rapids and
high sandstone cliffs. Half way through the trip is Smith Falls,
the highest water falls in Nebraska. Nestled in the woods only
two hundred yards from the river, the cold water of the falls
felt great on the hot summer afternoon. The fun-filled afternoon
on the Niobrara was definitely one of the highlights of the week.
Other activities included a mirror cleaning and collimation
demonstration by Dave Kriege of Obsession Telescopes, trips to
the Rosebud Casino just across the South Dakota border, golf,
fishing, boating, and sight seeing. On Wednesday evening, there
was the NSP barbecue and on Saturday night there was a catered
dinner at the Merritt Resort.
The nights at Merritt Reservoir however, are when
the beauty of the area truly emerges. The skies of NSP are beyond
worthy description, with the magnificent Milky Way stretching
overhead and no light pollution whatsoever. It was not uncommon
to hear claims of spotting M33 shortly after it rose. One observer's
sky tests revealed naked eye stars of 7.5 to 8.0 magnitude. Delta
Aquarid meteors and a few Perseids also frequented the sky. More
than once, the zodiacal light was seen stretching across the ecliptic.
Many observers sought out tough challenge objects. Undoubtedly
the most difficult object was "Einstein's Cross", a
gravitationally lensed quasar, which was observed in Tom Miller's
30" Obsession. Another highlight of the nights was the telescope
trailer that became a hot dog stand and coffee shop with the assistance
of a camp stove!
On Friday, the star party moved to Valentine, to
the Peppermill Restaurant with its adjoining meeting hall. The
day's events featured presentations on various astronomy related
subjects, a magic show, a banquet, and awards presentations. Programs
included presentations on solar observing by Louis Dorland and
Brenda Culbertson, fabricating a 26" mirror by Ron Dyvig,
interacting binary stars by Kendra Stahl, and a review of the
Merna Meteor Crater by Dr. Wakefield Dort. The suspected Merna
crater is a recently discovered 1-mile wide depression in central
Nebraska, on which Dr. Dort has been conducting research. The
magic show featured Mike Sibbernsen and Kendra Stahl. The main
speaker during the banquet was Barbara Wilson of Houston, Texas.
Barbara presented a fascinating talk about her project to observe
all of the galactic globular clusters north of -55 degrees declination.
Her talk especially hit home to the participants of "The
Great NSP Deep Sky Challenge", many of whom had been frantically
searching out a few Palomar & Terzan globular clusters the
previous night. The banquet was followed by awards for the "Challenge"
participants and the winners of the telescope making and astrophoto
contests. As is customary, there was a drawing for the substantial
number of door prizes donated by many generous manufacturers and
vendors.
Special thanks goes to Jon & Marion Davenport,
owners of Merritt Resort, Nebraska Game & Parks, Valentine
Chamber of Commerce, and the Peppermill Restaurant, without whose
help and support NSP would not have been possible. Overall, NSP
was a huge success. Everyone agreed that this star party was unique.
It was small enough for everyone there to become good friends,
yet had more to offer than could possibly be done in a week. Nobody
left disappointed, only sad that it had ended. Most said they
would return to next year's NSP, which will be held during the
peak of the Perseid meteor shower, August 10-17, 1996. For additional
information, contact the NSP Hotline: (402) 466-4170, or write
to NSP, c/o T. Miller, 3400 N. 102nd St., Lincoln, NE 68527.
