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Spruce Knob Observing Weekend-
Joe Morris kindly offered to organize and set up this star gaze at the Spruce Knob Mountain Center located in Circleville WV.   Below are excerpts from Joe’s invitation:
 I 'll be going to Spruce Knob for the new moon in July. I'd like to have as  many Delmarva
Stargazers that want to join me come. We'll be camping at 4100ft at The Mountain Institute and
folks will have a choice of tent camping or staying at their dorms ($15/night) that have a
bathhouse.  They are also offered 3 meals/day for another $15. Tent campers will have wide
open spaces (pasture land) with no facilities (the dorms are about 1 mile from the tent camping
and observing site) (can be either driven or walked) (tent campers could have the $15/day meals
if they want). The 400 A site is truly dark with no public interference (headlights, Coleman
lighters etc.).
About 15 observers initially took up Joe’s invitation. All of the observer reports on this dark sky site have been positive, particularly Thursday night; all this and a fantastic southern horizon.
Keith Lohmeyer and 5 others, took a side trip in the rain Saturday to the Greenbank Radio Observatory. GBSO put on a short presentation and gave them a bus ride that passes the radio dishes.
For more comments on the Spruce Knob weekend, see Don’s president’s  remarks on this page.
Joe is planning a second Spruce Knob observing weekend  around the new moon in August. Stay tuned.
Youth Group at Tuckahoe
The Stargazers had been asked to present an astronomy program to a group of 7th-8th grade
students involved in the  University of Maryland - Eastern Shore summer program.  The date is
July 16th, from 7:30 p.m. through approx 10:00 p.m. and the place is the Youth Camping Area
field at the pavilion.
The basic program planned is:
1) 7:30 - 8:00 - Telescopes - types and charateristics
2) 8:00 - 9:00 - Slide show and discussion of the Universe
3) 9:00 until ? - Viewing the heavens
Don Surles describes these activities further in his president’s remarks which follow.
 
From the President’s Desk.....  July 19, 2002
How’s your summer so far?  Hot enough for you?  How about the grass mowing?  What else have you been enjoying?
There are a lot of daylight hours in July and I have chosen to set aside a few minutes each day for some shut-eye.
Must be a function of A.G.E.
This past week has afforded us two excellent amateur astronomy opportunities.  The first was a long weekend at the Mountain Institute near Spruce Knob, WV, organized by Joe Morris.  Several Stargazers made the trip and were rewarded by a beautiful Thursday night (July 11-12).
Keith Lohmeyer, Joe Morris, Jim & Gina Acker and Gina’s sister, Jean-Paul Richard, Bill Chen, two of Joe’s astrophoto buddies, and Karen and I, observed the Milky Way under the best conditions possible east of the Mississippi.  The area of the Teapot, Scorpion, Scutum, Aquila, and Cygnus offered it’s treasures in Sunday dress for us.  The sky was clear, dark and very transparent.  Temperature?  I wore my thermals plus a quilted flannel shirt and windbreaker… around 3:00 AM I thought about the gloves I didn’t bring.  Bugs?  Not a one.  Our site elevation was approximately 3500-3800 feet with great views to the
horizon in all directions.  What a treat to see the entire Scorpion (the lowest point of the tail was 10 degrees above the horizon) – all night long!  This was truly one of the best nights I have had for star “grazing”.  Most of us packed it in around 4:30 AM.  Lyle and Sheri Jones joined us Friday afternoon – and they brought cloudy skies and rain…
Our viewing site was clearly visible from the top of Spruce Knob.

 But it was a 46 mile trip from our site to the top of the Knob and back!  As the crow flies it was maybe 2 miles.  I understand some of our party made it to the National Radio Observatory on Saturday – we should have a report on that in our September meeting.
The next AA opportunity was Tuesday night, July 16, at Tuckahoe.  Again, the sky was clear - it was just warm enough to be comfortable – and the T-Hoe Mosquito kept his family in seclusion.
We were host to a group of middle school students participating in a summer camp sponsored by the University of MD – Eastern Shore. There were approximately 25 children and some adults in the group.  Before darkness arrived, we
presented the different types of telescopes and the peculiarities of each. We covered the Newtonian design telescope in solid tube and truss configurations, the Schmidt-Cassegrain, and refractor design.   As darkness approached we moved to the Picnic Shelter and presented a slide show of the Gazers’ new slide set of constellations and colors of the universe, The slide show
was a crowd-pleaser.  We did warn the guests that our scopes “were not in color”.   We moved back to the baseball field and finished the evening with some live thru-the-lens viewing.  Joe Morris demonstrated the auto-guider and Go-To function of his AstroPhysics refractor.  Doug  Norton demonstrated the use of manual setting circles.  The other Gazers demonstrated star
hopping with atlas, Telrad, and finder scopes.  Favorite objects viewed were the first quarter moon, M13, the Lagoon and Trifid, the Dumbbell and Smoke Ring, the Double-Double and Alberio.
Joe Morris, Doug Norton, Tim Milligan and his family, Steve and Maggie Long, Lyle Jones, Jim Acker, Keith Lohmeyer, and I participated in this production.  Oh, the T-hoe barbecue was very good.  Our guests were very complimentary of the Star Gazers and the program we presented  Also, I must say, they were a very nice group of kids and we enjoyed the opportunity to share ourhobby.
Personally, I find sharing AA to be one of the greatest sources of satisfaction.  Sharing with the newcomer, with the experienced observer, with the free-thinker who is looking for a better or cheaper method, with the person who has ideas for improving our equipment, or with the group concerned about the future of AA --- these are all as important and satisfying as seeing the distant galaxy or nebula.   Delmarva Star Gazers is unique.  The friendliness and absence of tension makes participating in our group a pleasurable experience.  That quality is valuable and should be preserved.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer.  I will see you at Tuckahoe for some observing and at the Church September 3rd to begin the activities of our coming year.
Don…
  Club Activities...
Club Meetings- We meet in the First Presbyterian Church in Smyrna, DE (653-8000) on the first Tuesday of each month from 7-9 PM.  From US 13, turn west at Wendy's and go one stoplight on Commerce Street; the church is on the right directly across from the Fire Hall.
Future Meetings...The remaining meeting dates  for 2002 will be:   August 06 to be announced, September 03,  October 08, November 05, December  03
The regular meeting format includes discussion of club activities, observing highlights and an advertised presentation. We solicit suggestions for topics and presenters.
Club Observing... Observing is (usually) scheduled for the Friday nearest the New  Moon to maximize the hours of  deepnight  without the moon in the sky.   Unless otherwise stated,  the monthly observing site will be at the baseball field in the camping  area at Tuckahoe State Park.
The monthly observing days left for the year 2002 will be:  August 9, September 9, No-Frills VII October 2-6, November 1, and December 6.
The cloud or rain date for the monthly Friday observing will be the following Saturday, but don't trust the weather man!  Go outside and look for yourself or check the  weather links on our web page.   If  you still can't decide, Call Don Surles (302) 653-9445 or Lyle Jones (302) 736-9842