6th Annual Nebraska Star Party

AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING CONTEST
*** CLASSES OF ENTRY ***
1. TECHNICAL INNOVATION: A new design or innovative variation on a standard telescope design.
2. WORKMANSHIP: Overall quality of work or finishing in a home-brew project.
3. USEFUL ACCESSORY: A new, innovative, or well built item for the amateur astronomer which is not a main telescope, ie; things like equipment holders, unique finder systems, drives, camera mounts, observing platforms, trailers, electronic systems, heated dew caps, other useful devices, etc.

*** RULES ***
1. ONLY registered Nebraska Star Party attendees may participate in the ATM Contest. TO ENTER, you must fill out an ATM contest entry form available at the NSP registration table. The entrant should indicate on the entry form roughly where on the observing field the entry is going to be located (ie: Upper Observing Field West, Upper Observing Field Central, Upper Observing Field East, or Lower Observing field (campground area). The entrant will be assigned an entry number and given a numbered entry flag which is to be placed in a high spot next to, or on the entered item so that it may be easily located by the judges. YOU *MUST* HAVE A FLAG PRESENT WITH YOUR ENTERED ITEM WHEN JUDGING BEGINS. Entry forms may be submitted at the registration desk or directly to one of the judges on the observing field before 4:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday, August 12th.
2. No item which has won a NSP award in previous years may be entered in this year's contest. The decision of the judges is final.
3. JUDGING BEGINS ON THURSDAY AUGUST 12th, AT 5:00 p.m. CDT on the main NSP observing fields, located around and to the south of the Snake Campground. All entries must be on the observing field near the locations listed on their entry forms by that time (in case of heavy rain, entries will need to be taken to the Valentine High School for judging after 10 a.m. Friday morning, August 13th). If possible, the entrant should be with the item to be judged during the judging to answer any questions the judges might have.
4. Winners may be notified Thursday evening if possible, but will be formally announced during the NSP programs on Friday, August 13th at the Valentine High School auditorium. Winners will be responsible for picking up their awards at that time. If possible, winners should try to bring their entries for display to the Valentine High School on Friday.

6th Annual Nebraska Star Party
*** ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
***ENTRY CLASSIFICATIONS
1. WIDE FIELD: low-power wide field or piggy-back shots of starfields or pretty celestial groupings in the night sky.
2. SOLAR SYSTEM: Higher power lunar, solar, or planetary shots, including comets, eclipses, ect.
3. DEEP-SKY: Moderate to high power pictures of deep-sky objects.
4. NSP: Images taken at the present or any past Nebraska Star Party.
*** CONTEST RULES ***
1. ONLY registered Nebraska Star Party attendees may participate in the NSP Astrophotography Contest. TO ENTER, you must fill out an contest entry form available at the NSP registration table at Merritt Reservoir, or at the Valentine High School Auditorium on Friday morning, August 13th BEFORE 12:00 noon. The entrant will need to have the entry at the auditorium by noon in a form ready for display (ie: properly mounted with only the entry number on the front of the mounting, and a full name, address, and picture details on the back). The entrant should indicate on the entry form which class they wish to be judged under. The entrant may put information about the image being judged (ie: what is shown, film, exposure time, equipment used, etc.) on or next to the picture, but may NOT put the name of the person who took the shot where it might be seen by the judges. Each entrant is responsible for picking up his/her entry by 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon.
2. No picture which has won a NSP award in previous years may be entered in this year's contest. Judging will be done by votes from those NSP attendees who are present at the paper sessions in Valentine on Friday.
3. CCD images must be in quality print form (ie: no electronic images which require computers for display).
4. Winners will be announced later Friday afternoon August 13th at the Valentine High School auditorium during or just after the program presentations.

6th Annual Nebraska Star Party DEEP SKY OBSERVING CHALLENGE
This year we decided to have a little fun with this contest. In your registration packet you will find a menu of items served in the Dark Skies Cafe. Rules and an entry form are included in the menu. You will need additional logs if you are going to complete more than one list. They are available at the Registration Table.We hope you enjoy the delicacies as much as we enjoyed serving them up to you!

CLASSES OF ENTRY
1. Beginner/novice or small aperture scope -“Sampler Plate”.
2. More advanced or larger aperture scopes -”Sagittarius Smorgasbord”.
3. Intermediate observer with moderate aperture scope - ”Combination Plate”.
4. The ambitious observer - “Gluttons Delight ” Viewing ALL objects on the menu!

RULES
1. All objects MUST be viewed at NSP6.
2. All objects must be logged on the supplied entry form on the back of this list.
3. All entries must be submitted no later than 11 AM, Friday morning at the High School.
4. The Use of Setting Circles and Computer Finders is Disallowed. (Honor System)

AWARDS