May Star Party

Enjoy the night sky away from the bright lights of the towns and cities in our area! The night will be dark -- perfect for star gazing. Bring your own telescopes and binoculars, or use those provided by our members -- a telescope is not required.

RSVP is required at least one day beforehand. When you RSVP you will be asked to provide your license plate number and the make and model car. We need this to provide to the Park management, who will then provide it to the State Police and State Park Police. If you are not on the list then you are not supposed to be there, as we are there after park hours. If you are there and not on the list and the police show up, the consequences could include revocation of our permit for after-hours use.

Please review our guide to star party etiquette if you have not been to one of our star parties before: https://files.meetup.com/2674222/MHAA%20Star%20Party%20Etiquette%20Guide.pdf

As usual, we will be in the West Beach parking lot at Lake Taghkanic.

You can see the Clear Sky Chart for Lake Taghkanic State Park at http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/LkTagNYkey.html .
This will show various viewing conditions (cloud cover, transparency, darkness) as well as temperature, wind, etc.

Keep in mind that it can be very cold at night by a lake, especially after standing around for a while. General advice for observing at the lake or elsewhere is to dress for 20 degrees colder than the forecast, and to dress in layers that you can add or take off as needed.