by David Knisely

The Nebraska Star Party this year once again offered an interesting mix of good skies and entertaining activities for astronomical vacationers and their families. Located high in the Nebraska Sandhills (3100 ft. elevation) near the south shore of 11-mile long Merritt Reservoir, the site boasts of some of the darkest skies in North America. Sponsored jointly by the Omaha Astronomical Society and the Prairie Astronomy Club of Lincoln, around 400 people from all over North America attended this year's event. More than a few early birds came in Friday July 28th, with Friday evening showing about 20 scopes and even more people on the nearly 40 acres of observing fields of the Snake Campground. After midnight, observers were treated with a pleasant auroral display low in the north, while many people continued to work the limits of deep-sky with their telescopes.

Saturday dawned bright and clear, as registration began in the Dillon Lounge downstairs from the "Water's Edge" restaurant at Merritt Resort. Many families took advantage of the blue waters of the lake by taking a dip or just sunning themselves on the white sand beaches. Saturday evening was nice and clear, allowing many first timers to get their first taste of what real dark skies can offer. The number of telescopes on the observing fields increased to around 40, with many familiar deep-sky targets falling to the onslaught of the many big truss-tube giants of Dob Row. Things like the "Pipe" nebula were easy to the unaided eye. Several of the driven Starmaster truss-tube Dobsonians made a great impression on those attending, with their quiet almost musical slewing motions, in contrast to the more mechanical sounds of the numerous LX-200 SCT's on the upper fields. M102 revealed its fine elusive dark lane to those using one 18 inch Starmaster, with other scopes going after fainter globular clusters in the Milky Way. Even some of the lesser-observed nebulae such as the "Cygnus Crescent", NGC 6888 were getting a lot of scrutiny.

Sunday was even better than Saturday, with clear blue skies and warm but not terribly hot temperatures. Astrosystems and Eagle Optics did a brisk business at the vendor area, while other attendees mingled or renewed old friendships. A public star party was held next to Merritt Resort for the local residents, with Lorri May of South Dakota doing the star talk. Most other attendees began their evening by eagerly setting up on the grass- covered dunes of Snake Campground. Those on the observing fields were treated to very dark and crystal clear skies, with several individuals reporting unaided-eye limiting magnitudes of 7.6 or better. The Celestron 80mm Widefield scope was a big hit with those who wanted to cruise the vast starfields of the Milky Way. That little refractor equipped with a 30mm Ultrascopic eyepiece and the Lumicon UHC filter let viewers gaze at both M20 and M8 in the same field, set in a dark star-studded sky background. It also showed both segments of the Veil Nebula, as well as the full form of the North America Nebula. The newly-noticed variable star Delta Scorpii also made an impression on many observers as it shone nearly half a magnitude brighter than usual. Dave Hamilton of Lincoln, Nebraska used his Rainbow Optics Star Spectroscope on his MAG-1 PortaBall 12.5 inch Newtonian to show people the faint H-alpha emission line of Delta, as well as spectral lines and bands in stars like Altair and Antares. Several CCD imaging systems were also active on the observing fields, with objects like M5 and M27 showing up on dimly-lit computer screens. Many observers made this observing session an all-nighter, with the faint glow of dawn coming all too soon.

Monday was bright and sunny, with people again taking advantage of the lake for swimming, fishing, or attending the first day of the NSP BEGINNER'S FIELD SCHOOL. Indeed, local fishing reports had nearly everything biting. Nearly 50 people in the 3-day NSP Beginner's Field School got their start on their way into the fascinating hobby of Amateur Astronomy. Long-time NSP regulars Lorri May and Dave Hamilton got the field school off and running, providing the beginners some of the basics for understanding and getting around the night sky. In the early evening, the NSP Ice Cream Social was held at the pavilion just north of the main observing fields, providing a real "ice breaker" for those attending for the first time. Free Ice cream and soda was provided to attendees, along with drawings for the first of many door prizes, but the skies began to cloud over as the night progressed. However, this only meant that it was time for the NSP "Mystery Kite" to go aloft. Its tiny green glowbar became the target for many laser and "photon torpedo" blasts from the ground-based dobs equipped with flashguns or Maglites (rumor has it that the kite suffered severe fading from overexposure to photons!). Even without the clear skies of the previous evening, many attendees remained on the observing fields to chat in large groups well into the night.

Tuesday was partly cloudy with some high cirrus clouds. The second day of the Beginner's Field school featured NSP-mentor Dave Knisely, with an extended presentation on telescopes and binoculars. The Hamburger BBQ was held back at Merritt Resort in the early evening, followed by the migration back to the observing fields. NSP Clear Skies Coordinator Clark Cheney of Omaha huffed and puffed and blew away the clouds for several hours of clear observing after sunset, but eventually ran out of breath after midnight when some distant thunderstorms blew in high and mid-level clouds from the west. Tectron's Tom Clark showed off his fine 20 inch truss-tube Dobsonian, while Pete Smitka of MAG-1 Instruments brought out one of his new 8 inch PortaBall Newtonians.

Wednesday again was mostly clear, with the featured activities being the third Day of the Beginner's Field School and the NSP Beach Party. Pete Smitka once again lent a hand to the beginner with his "How to get the most out of Your Telescope" mini-workshop at the Field School. He provided many tips on things like telescope construction, collimation, and common telescope problems. Around 3 p.m., the Great NSP Beach Party began on the white sandy shore of Merritt Resort, with swimming, kite flying, and games. A sand wedge pitching contest allowed everyone a chance to see how they would fare in a really BIG sand trap! Of course, some people were waiting for their chance to get even with Clear Skies Coordinator Clark Cheney via the water balloon launch. Needless to say, Clark got VERY wet when all the kids on the beach rushed and pummeled him in a point-blank barage of balloons! The three-legged races and volleyball topped off the games, after which, the big gas grille was fired up to begin the barbeque. Attendees brought their own food to be cooked on the grille by the now soggy Clark Cheney, Bill O'Donnell, and Dave Hamilton. The sky was variably cloudy with only a few sucker holes, so most attendees either talked in large lawn-chair groups on the observing fields or went to bed to rest up for the canoe and tubing trip down the Niobrara river the next morning.

Thursday brought on the great Canoe/Tubing trip in the Niobrara Canyon, where well over 100 attendees spent a relaxing 3 or 4 hours floating or canoing down the peaceful Niobrara River. However, as usual, the flotilla of tubes had the usual water cannon battles between rival groups, which made nearly everyone wet, but kept everyone cool under a hot sun. All the groups stopped at the Smith Falls recreation area for lunch and a look at the highest waterfalls in Nebraska before continuing down to the finish. In the late afternoon, the Chicken BBQ was held back at Merritt Resort, and more door prizes were given out. At around 7:30 p.m., the Amateur Telescope Making Contest entries were judged on the observing fields. Mike Nebelsick of Naperville, Illinois won both the Technical Innovation and Useful Accessory classes with his unique 2.4 inch altazimuth refractor which had an eyepiece storage box at the front for a counterweight and an old vinyl LP record as the azimuth bearing surface. Paul Rothove of Hartsburg, Missouri won in the Workmanship class with his fine 10 inch f/8 "Art-Deco" Dobsonian. The skies became mostly cloudy so again, many people just sat and talked. Late night and early morning thunderstorms prevented any observing, although little rain actually fell.

Friday had the formal presentations in the Auditorium and lobby of the Valentine Nebraska High School. Vendors set up in the lobby, along with registration and the entries for the NSP Astrophotography Contest. Formal programs began with Dave Knisely's presentation on a Nebula Survey Project for the comparison of filter performance. This was followed by Tectron's Tom Clark on Telescope Making, and high school student Matt Harriger's presentation on Nova Hunting in the Andromeda Galaxy. Lunch was served in the lobby by Pizza Hut as a fund raiser for a local school group, while many attendees looked over and voted for their choces in the Astrophotgraphy Contest. In the Solar System Category, Paul Anderson of Bella Vista, Arkansas won with his shot of Mercury's Solar Transit with an Airplane also on the sun. The Deep-Sky Category was won by Randall Heckman of Kearney, Nebraska for his image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300. Randall Wehler of Willmar, Minnesota, won the NSP Category with his "Boardman Creek Star Gaze" picture of the Milky Way. Carla Wehler was first in the wide-field category for her photo "Prairie Moon Eclipse."

The afternoon brought more programs. Dr. Erica Ellingson of the University of Colorado presented, "Weighing the Universe with Galaxy Clusters", followed by another Omaha Burke High School student, Ryan Westerlin, who gave a presentation on Active Galactic Nucleii. Dr. Nick Schneider finished things off with a program on Jupiter's volcanic moon IO and its escaping atmosphere. The final doorprizes were then awarded, including a 6 inch Dobsonian for the kids and a computerized Meade ETX-90 Autostar, along with an 8 inch f/6 Bushnell Dosonian for the adults. With the formal programs concluded, most attendees either went back out the the observing fields, or had dinner with some of their new-found friends. The skies were partly cloudy Friday night with a fat crescent moon, so not a great deal of observing was done. Still, more than a few people sat out under the cool skies to talk and dream about the next Nebraska Star Party.